Apple recommends using launchd which actually runs cron tasks for MacOS. You can still use crontab -e to edit your crontab, but if you want a one-liner:

(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "01 10 * * * osascript /Users/Jhon/Desktop/somescript.scpt") | crontab - ; crontab -l

See this answer for much more useful details:

How can I configure my computer to run an AppleScript at a specific time? Caveat: without using iCal


Virtualization with Intel's GVT-d on Mid-2015 Macbook Pro

Some further research has produced somewhat contrary answers. This forum thread seems to suggest that it's possible, but not for a Mac OS host. Conversely, here it's suggested that it's not possible to implement on a type-2 hypervisor like Virtualbox.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, except maybe to suspect that it's possible to time-share an Intel GPU across multiple VMs with this method, but not to time-share an Intel GPU across a host and a guest.

Either way, it seems the answer to this question would have to be No for the time being.


What casues macOS sidebar to drop "favorites" (shortcuts to linked files/directories), other than macOS updates? How to prevent?

I do not know what's causing you to loose the customizations you've made to items under Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder or how to prevent it, however here is a backup and restore solution for when it does happen. This should certainly be easier then manually having to restore all the lost items under Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder.
At one time, items under Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder were stored in the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist file and then the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist file.
However, they are now stored in:
~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2

Which version of macOS it was changed to the later I'm not sure, however certainly in macOS Mojave and later it is in com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2 file.
In at least macOS Mojave and later, to backup this file after the items you always want to be under Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder, to then later restore as needed, first do the following in Terminal:
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/
cp com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2 com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2.Custom

With that done, if and when the items under Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder get reset and your customizations are lost, then do the following to restore them:
In Terminal:
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/
cp com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2.Custom com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl2

Then immediately press ⇧⌘Q and then Enter to Log Out.
Once the log out is complete, you can log in and the Favorites in the Sidebar of Finder will be back to your customized settings.

Note: You may have to give Full Disk Access to Terminal in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy in order to run the aforementioned commands.


Mystery Box in Expose (or what I think is expose)

If it's not the web browser, and you're sure you've quitted it (I'm sure you know on a Mac closing the window doesn't usually quit the application), then try this when you see another floating window:

Search Spotlight for Activity Monitor
Change the drop down menu to Active Processes or if not available choose My Processes
Sort by Real Memory Usage
File>Print the list and post it somewhere where we can see it

That will tell you every application and active daemon that is running actively so that we can check if anything is out of the ordinary.


iPartition (only ≤ OS X 10.13)
iPartition is now legacy. The company, Coriolis, finally closed in 2019. There is still a (now essentially freeware/donationware) version of iPartition available for download, but only good to OS X 10.13 for pre CoreStorage disks.
It allows you to move and resize partitions without deleting any data. It also works for Boot Camp volumes and other PC disks.

With iPartition, resizing a partition is as simple as selecting it, grabbing the resize handle and dragging. Not only that, but if you have several operations to perform, iPartition lets you queue them up and run them one after another, so you can have a cup of coffee while iPartition works. This feature, coupled with iPartition’s ability to automatically rearrange your existing partitions when necessary, makes iPartition the easiest partitioning tool that you’ll ever use.


Can I restrict download when my macbook is being hot spotted?

Little Snitch

Little Snitch has profiles that you can switch to which can contain custom network rules.

For example, you can create one profile that is bound to your home network that allows all incoming/outgoing connections for all applications, then create a second profile that allows all connections for Safari, but blocks all connections from other apps.

Alternatively, you can request that applications ask for connection when not connected to your home network.

These profiles can be switched through the menu bar icon, or automatically upon joining a certain network.


memory footprint of 4k monitor on 2018 13" Iris 655

There's not really any significant amount of extra main memory usage for buffers due to having dual 4k-displays.

Indirectly the total main memory usage might increase because some will tend to run more programs at the same time, have more windows and documents open at the same time, etc. - and that will lead to higher main memory usage.

It is correct that the Intel Iris Plus 655 in the MBP uses main memory for its video memory (i.e. up to 1.5 GB of main memory is shared between the CPU and the GPU). However, it is not actually a specific process using more memory in Activity Monitor, but rather a case that there's less main memory available in total.

The size of that extra memory usage for buffers is so little that it is not really noticeable in common usage. For example a video buffer for a 4k display will take up something like 32 MB of memory. That's less than half a percent of even the 8 GB on the MBP with the least amount of RAM.

Again, the indirect usage might be bigger, because you might be loading up more advanced games than you would have done with the extra monitors - and they might use up much more video ram (for textures, etc.) than just the buffers themselves.


Kernel panic after using Android Emulator for Mac OS X Lion

It appears to be, as you suspected, the Android emulator that is causing the issue.  Some users have filed an issue on Google Code.  If you scroll down past all of the "Me Too's," you'll actually find useful information; there appears to be a workaround involving /Applications/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS/eclipse.ini for some.

  I increased the heap space used by Eclipse, and haven't experienced this problem since.

  In eclipse.ini I used the following values:

--launcher.XXMaxPermSize256m

-Xms256m

-Xmx1024m

The same issue has a duplicate. In this thread, they mentioned a slightly different method where they added -vmargs between --launcher.XXMaxPermSize256m and -Xms256m

And I assume you've installed Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager, as this is a requirement for  the Android Emulator.  However, in the comments, people note that it doesn't work with Mountain Lion and they had to disable it for Android Emulator to work.

For your question about the number of installs Lion from the App Store will give you, this is directly from Apple's EULA (emphasis added):

  (i) to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial
  use, one (1) copy of the Apple  Software directly on each
  Apple-branded computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Mac OS X  Snow
  Leopard Server (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control;

So, assuming that this is for personal, non-commercial use, Apple lets you install Lion as many times as you like on the Macs that you own or control.


Why some folders have the .DS_Store but some doesn't?

Locally stored .DS_Store files

In brief

A common reason for presence of .DS_Store:

in Finder, a view is preferred.

Technical details

An answer to Why are dot underscore ._ files created, and how can I avoid them?:

Purposes of .DS_Store and ._ files


Keep copy/paste and TOC in PDF converted from ebook?

I suppose the first thing would be to investigate Calibre's PDF output to see if it is to spec, and whether it has options that Preview might prefer.
Ghostscript normally should preserve bookmarks and other annotations. Maybe explicitly set -dPDFSETTINGS=/default.?
See the long answer here about using GS:
https://superuser.com/questions/466031/how-do-i-reduce-a-pdfs-size-and-preserve-the-bookmarks
If that doesn't work, you could use this python script, which will copy Bookmarks from one PDF to another. Note that it will overwrite the destination PDF.
#!/usr/bin/python

# Copy PDF Table of Contents from one PDF to another.
#
# copyOutlines.py <source file> <destination file>

from Foundation import  NSURL
import Quartz as Quartz
import sys

def copyOutlines(source, dest):
    pdfURL = NSURL.fileURLWithPath_(source)
    inPDF = Quartz.PDFDocument.alloc().initWithURL_(pdfURL)
    if inPDF:
        outline = Quartz.PDFOutline.alloc().init()
        outline = inPDF.outlineRoot()
    pdfURL = NSURL.fileURLWithPath_(dest)
    outPDF = Quartz.PDFDocument.alloc().initWithURL_(pdfURL)
    outPDF.setOutlineRoot_(outline)
    outPDF.writeToFile_(dest)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    copyOutlines(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2])


I don't want ios 8 on my ipad mini running ios 6. Is there a way that I can update to ios 7?

No, you can't do that. Apple only allows users to update to the latest software, as it fights version fragmentation. I recommend just updating to iOS 8.4.1. For the most part, whatever bugs existed in iOS 8 are fixed by now. You could also just wait until iOS 9 comes out in a couple of weeks, bug fixes and performance enhancements will be a major part of iOS 9.

This all is an effect of "code signing" where you need Apple to sign the version of code at the moment it gets installed. Since Apple no longer signs iOS 7 on that device, you would need to jailbreak or bypass that entire process.

Unless you're into the details of Jailbreaking you can stay at iOS 6 or upgrade to the versions Apple supports/signs.

I strongly recommend against jailbreaking, though.


My Press and hold accents have been disabled in Yosemite

I just realised you need to restart the device for it to take effect...


I'm not sure whether your approach is fundamentally wrong, or not, but I've never done it that way - this has always been my approach

To get another user's purchase to that iTunes account, you need to go to Apps > App Store > [scroll right to the bottom] Purchased > Apps > [User Name]


Your Macbook comes with a worldwide one year limited warranty.

Apple [...] warrants this Apple-branded hardware product against defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ONE (1) YEAR from the date of retail purchase by the original end-user purchaser (“Warranty Period”). If a hardware defect arises and a valid claim is received within the Warranty Period, at its option, Apple will either...

repair the hardware defect at no charge, using new or refurbished replacement parts, or
exchange the product with a product that is new or which has been manufactured from new or serviceable used parts and is at least functionally equivalent to the original product, or
refund the purchase price of the product.

See to your preferred Apple-Certified-Reseller with your Macbook and state your claim. You should be proposed a fix at not cost if the defect is due to bad material or workmanship under normal use.


The easiest system-wide option is to use the third party utility “dnscrypt-proxy”:

https://github.com/jedisct1/dnscrypt-proxy

Follow their macOS guide to download, install and configure the program. This will essentially setup your system to that System Preferences show that your DNS server is 127.0.0.1 (localhost), which means that all programs using the system resolver sends their DNS requests to the proxy program running on your computer. The proxy program then handles the communication with external DNS servers using encryption.

You can download “dnscrypt-proxy switcher” to be able to quickly switch on/off the proxy usage from the menu bar.

Another possibility is to use only programs that in themselves support DNS-over-TLS or DNS-over-HTTPS. This is for example Firefox or Google Chrome. However, extra configuration is necessary.


How to enable "larger text" scaling slider on a 2k monitor?

Search for ResolutionTab on the app store. It's only a couple of bucks and works well on my 2009 MacPro.


What could be preventing my backup script from running?

I would first convert the printf statements to logger -p user.info statements since they are easily observed in the console app (and syslog) whenever the script runs.

You could also make a second script that just logs test messages or creates empty files /usr/bin/touch /tmp/test.$$.log to determine if your script above is the culprit or the Power Manager tool you are using is not reliably launching the script.

Also, you could try using an app like Lingon to have launchd start your script. The system uses that facility to run itself, so it' highly reliable and logs failures well if you ever need to troubleshoot a problem down the road.


How would I prepend 127.0.0.1 as a nameserver all the time

As you already know, OS X will overwrite any changes you make to /etc/resolv.conf so you can't really specify your own nameserver in there. Luckily, there is a way to add your own resolver entries in a way that will persist whatever network connection you use whilst still using DHCP assigned name servers for most normal lookups.

Create the directory /etc/resolver and create a text file within it that simply has a standard name server directive like nameserver 127.0.0.1. Make sure this text file is named the same as the domain or TLD you wish to use dnsmasq for. In my case, all my development sites end with the .dev TLD so my config file is named /etc/resolver/dev.

And that's it! From now on, when ever you connect to a network using DHCP, your name servers will be automatically assigned and used as normal but any requests for your specified TLD (*.dev in my example) will be routed to dnsmasq.


sudo: /var/db/sudo/ts is owned by uid 501, should be 0

UID 501 is the first administrator user on the machine, usually the first user that you create ergo you. Somehow ownership of the folder was set to you instead of root.

Open the terminal and change user to root:

# sudo su

Lets check the ownership of the files, first change dir to the folder:

# cd /var/db/sudo/

Then:

# ls -ln
total 0
drwx------  2 0  0  64 Oct 24 11:07 myusername
drwx------  3 0  0  96 Dec  5 08:23 ts

Another view:

# ls -la
total 0
drwx------   4 root  wheel   128 Sep 25 21:51 .
drwxr-xr-x  97 root  wheel  3104 Dec  5 07:57 ..
drwx------   2 root  wheel    64 Oct 24 11:07 myusername
drwx------   3 root  wheel    96 Dec  5 08:23 ts

You can see that on my system, both files are owned by true root user with UID 0. I would guess that changing the ownership of the folder should solve your problem. Still do make a copy of that folder beforehand.

sudo chown -R root:wheel /var/db/sudo/ts/

If you check the ownership again it should be user=root, group=wheel, so UID and GID 0.


Continue moving files when process stopped

If the source has the same number of solid files as the destination has translucent, it is safe to manually resume the move. Drag and drop to move from source to destination, and select "replace" when prompted. Translucent files are just empty placeholder files.

My personal practice always involves copying, then deleting once done. To insist on a copy, hold down Option. It's a bit more tedious but it's saved me much frustration over this sort of matter.


Will OS X ever install anything suspicious without my express permission?

It will download anything if you told it to do so.

It will obey your commands, down to self destruct (kill it self) if you ask it to do it.

There are some preventative measures in place (but at your control) to make it safer (from you).

For example the Downloads:

In order to change this setting you would have to enter a Password. In your case it is probably set (by you) to Anywhere, and that is fine if you know what are the risks.

Hopefully you learned a lesson, and in the future close the web site asking you to Update or OK (they mean the same). Anytime you get a pop up asking you to download something that you did not ask for, shall be killed instantly.

Now without further beating the bushes, tell us what site did that and what file did you trash so we can do some surgery.


Why does my iPad send me immediately to the App Store instead of Safari?

Safari was likely last opened to a page that had an iTunes link in it, forwarding you to the App store (similar to ads that people accidentally click on in Games). Try fully closing out the Safari session by double-clicking on the Home button on your iPad, then swipe Safari up from the Multitasker. Then, make sure the session won't reload by going to Settings -> Safari -> Clear website data and history. It will blow your Safari history away but should clear whatever site it has open as well. Note, bookmarks won't be affected by that process :)

Or try to follow a link from Mail, Twitter etc (whatever opens in Safari), then open the "all tabs" view in Safari and close the 'tab' with the auto-forwarding.


tell-tale file to know whether Mojave is installed

From what the question seems to imply:

the most significant file that the macOS system writes for itself is perhaps its own version number file?

That file is located at

/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

If that file contains, for example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>ProductBuildVersion</key>
        <string>16G1618</string>
        <key>ProductCopyright</key>
        <string>1983-2018 Apple Inc.</string>
        <key>ProductName</key>
        <string>Mac OS X</string>
        <key>ProductUserVisibleVersion</key>
        <string>10.12.6</string>
        <key>ProductVersion</key>
        <string>10.12.6</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Then the above is for Sierra 10.12.6.


I want to stop gmail messages appearing on my screen as soon as I log on

Are these messages appearing via Notification Center, in the upper right of your display?


In Mail.app go to the Edit menu, go down to Attachments, then select Include Original Attachments with Reply.


where are the "best of the 90s", "billboard top 10 of 1982"-style suggestion lists in iTunes?

iTunes Essentials. Full list here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/essentials

Most popular lists are shown on the main page, and you can browse them all alphabetically.


Passing a password to an Automator application

AppleScript should let you do this by using with administrator privileges:

osascript -e 'do shell script "sudo -s launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist" with administrator privileges'

This doesn't pass the password, but prompts for it with a standard OS X prompt:

You can use this in your Automator workflow in one of the two following ways:


Is it allowed for an iOS app to run volunteer computing projects?

Technically, it is possible. In fact, there’s a paper titled “Exploring mobile devices as Grid resources: Using an x86 virtual machine to run BOINC on an iPhone”. The paper was published in 2009, the abstract says:

  […] In this paper we propose the use of mobile devices themselves as grid computing nodes. We demonstrate the feasibility of this concept by implementing the BOINC client on an Apple iPhone. Work units are downloaded from a BOINC server and executed on the iPhone via a virtual machine emulating an x86 processor, and results are uploaded to the server. […]

Whether Apple would allow such an app on the iOS App Store though is another matter. BOINC has an Android app, but no iOS app, and their FAQ says:

  Can I run BOINC on my iPhone?

  There are currently some technical and legal barriers to doing volunteer computing on iPhones. It's possible that in the future these issues can be overcome.

A member of the BOINC project has mentioned one problem for them:

  As I understand the main problem of creating iOS BOINC app is that app can't download executable files […]

The App Store Review Guideline he is referring to is:

  2.5.2 Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code, including other apps. […]

As far as I know, there are no other volunteer computing project apps on the iOS App Store. I’m guessing another guideline that might be troublesome for such apps is:

  2.4.2 Design your app to use power efficiently. Apps should not rapidly drain battery, generate excessive heat, or put unnecessary strain on device resources.

Volunteering computing resources is of course likely to cause a rapidly draining battery and other strain. Whether or not this counts as “unnecessary” when the user is giving the app explicit permission to donate computing resources is something that would have to be argued with Apple.


Missed calls appearing on two different phones

The problem is caused by sharing the same Apple ID on both devices.

According to this, this, and this sites, you can either

Create a separate Apple ID for one of the phones, or
Turn off Settings -> (Your Apple ID) -> iCloud -> iCloud Drive:


There's missing space in my partitions on my Macbook 2016

Based on the information you have posted, the missing free space can be found to be between disk0s1 and disk0s2. The macOS operating system is stored in the APFS container partition (disk0s2). There is no command or application provided by macOS that can merger this free space back to this container.

     byte             byte
starting offset   ending offset    size in bytes   identifer
---------------  ---------------  ---------------  ----------
         24,576      314,597,375      314,572,800  disk0s1
    314,597,376   37,335,146,495   37,020,549,120  free space
 37,335,146,496  251,000,172,543  213,665,026,048  disk0s2


MacBook Pro Mid 2012 startup chime from right speaker only

I am pretty sure your MBP always did that. It is something annoying I never really liked about the MBP: They have a "subwoofer" which is situated on the right-hand side of the MacBook. So sounds with a lot of bass always appear to come from the right speaker. Here is what Apple says.


As of OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), this functionality is built in to the operating system. Go to System Preferences > General  and turn on "Automatically hide and show the menu bar."


My iPhone 5s won't make any sound at all

Have you checked the position of the mute switch on the upper left edge of the iPhone itself? If you see a red indication, this switch has been enabled:


Macbook Pro Late 2016 Monitor Flicking when using Viber video

This sounds a lot like GPU driver issues or application issues where the developers of the fiber app can fix things. Tons of libraries make hardware assumptions and might need to be updated for the new Apple hardware and GPU.

if this is something you can easily reproduce on new hardware, the chances of Apple or vibes fixing it are high. Unless you don't need the latest GPU and can exchange for the non touchbar Mac - I'd work with software side to get the bugs addressed even though that can be slow and frustrating and sometimes opaque as companies typically shield engineering staff from users with bugs to report.


What is the current method to set a larger cache size for VLC player on a Mac?

VLC Preferences → Show All → Input / Codecs → Advanced (scroll down) → File caching (ms) and Network caching (ms). File caching is used when using the standard Open File functionality, even if the file is located on the network. Network caching is for the Open Network function in VLC.


Which database is music app on ios 8.4 querying for artist pictures?

I think the data comes from CDDB, or at least it used to, back in the day. You can edit (only add?) album art in iTunes by dragging image files onto the album art display. I don't know of any way to do it with only iOS.


In short, no.

OTA [Over the Air] updates are only available on devices that shipped with iOS 5 or later.
Your only alternative is a computer running iTunes.

Source: Wikipedia - iOS


One of those embarrassing problems once you see the fix.
A very heavy iCloud download was the issue. Just let it download it's thing for a few hours then problem resolved by itself.

Hope this helps anybody else.


Embedding Web Snippets in Wiki Server and Security Settings

I found the Lion Server Advanced Admin Guide which mentioned changing the key  FiltersEnabled to False /etc/collabd/collabd.plist.
Once I figured that this plist has been moved to /Library/Server/Wiki/Config in Mountain Lion Server from /etc/collabd/ in Lion Server I changed the preference - and we can embed to our hearts' content.


Pages is not at all set up to do what you ask. The layout in iBooks author is superior to Pages, but you can't easily share that work across platforms and until the next versions of Apple OS ship (presumably in the fall of 2013) - iBooks author lets you design on Mac only and read on iPad only.

The text in multiple columns flows from the bottom of one column and up into the next. Additions and deletions will not align well unless you use a table structure to hold paragraphs and enforce the right-left constraint so that one comment isn't higher or lower vertically than the text for which it corresponds.

Hopefully tables works for you, as your other option in Pages is to use the comments or track changes feature to anchor some amount of text to another specific portion of text. These items do print nicely, and you might find you can use the whole width of your page and let the software reduce things to fit as needed.


Bug? macOS Sierra Preview/Quick Look issues with rendering colors of images when using any icc profile other than the macOS standard

(After reading all the literature I could find around the issue here's what I've learned)

A disclaimer first

There is a chance (as @Mr.Kennedy points out) that your system is suffering from issues with the quicklook generator. You may wish to read first his very thorough details on clearing the cache and debugging qlamanager's process of generating the thumbnails/previews. If you are certain the actual thumbnails/previews generated are fine, read on!

the Problem

Description of the problem

Apple programs and programs that depend on ColorSync CMM's capabilities, exhibit under some conditions crushed black colors and gamma issues.

Programs affected

Preview
Quick Look (when zoomed in)
Certain versions of Lightroom
The Export As... preview at Photoshop (the Save for Web (legacy) dialog is not affected on the other hand)
Apple Photos App
Apple iPhotos App
Aperture
Quicktime
Finalcut Pro X

(the issues affecting QT, FCPX Lr and Aperture may be different, I'm not sure)

Programs (not) affected

Quick Look (before zooming in)
Finder previews/thumbnails
Adobe Bridge
all programs who manage their own colors

Specifics

This is an issue (or a family of issues) around ColorSync. Most probably an Apple's bug inside ColorSync or Preview/QuickLook/Photos, that affects some color profiles generated by a few profiling software, but does not affect other profiles at all (such as the factory profiles).

According to some, first ColorSync issues were introduced in Mountain Lion. Others had issues in Mavericks, while others discovered it first in El Capitan. I can verify that it is still present in Sierra though. It's unclear if all these issues were all one and the same, but in here I'll treat them as such.

Adobe is aware of these issues (it was affecting Lightroom up to some version) rectified it since(2), but consequent updates by apple have complicated things since it has reemerged in a different way. There is a lengthy discussion in the Adobe forums(3).

Cause

At the root, it is that certain ICC profiles, contain information that **Apple's ColorSync won't treat properly (and this affects all programs that rely on ColorSync).
There have been various ideas proposed as what it is that ColorSync doesn't like about them.
This issue has been linked (but inconclusively) to:

LUT based icc profiles
matrix based icc profiles
particular software used to generated the ICC profile (eg displayCal/basICColors).
compatibility issues with the ICC version number (ICCv2 or v4 profiles)
black point compensation accounted for in the profile curves.
EIZO displays
Secondary displays

There has been no consensus though. For instance I've seen both ICCv2 and ICCv4 profiles that work, and ICCv2 and ICCv4 profiles that do not.

Solution

No solution has been found yet afaik.

From reports, it seems that profiles created with certain programs seem to be "incompatible" while profiles created by other programs seem to be fine.If you are using

displayCal (using ArgyllCMS) (aka dispcalGUI)
basICColor
Eizo ColorNavigator (4)

this may be the related. testing some other software for profiling, may be the solution for some who have the option
Others have reported success with experimenting by changing parameters of the profiles generated (ICC version number, black point compensation, LUT, curves, 3x3 matrix) but nothing definitive.
Adobe is implementing its own workarounds(2),(5) (that seem to be falling apart when apple is changing something).
One could revert to using the factory profile (for those who don't care about color management) which work fine
Needless to say that avoiding ColorSync reliance and using programs that color manage their own output everywhere in your work environment is certainly the most complete solution (but rarely a viable option)

Raising Awareness

You may also wish to add your voice by submitting to Apple a bug report on the issue

Other places where this problem is discussed

I'm listing here some of the other places where these issues are being discussed

OSX Preview issues

Q: Preview+El Capitan = color management bug?
Q: wrong colors in preview.app
Dark Images in Mac "Photos" & "Preview" with DisplayCAL generated Profile

Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom 5 ICC profiles clipped shadows under OSX
Serious color management bug in Mac OS 10.9 "Mavericks"
Further quantification of the Mavericks color management problem

Finalcut Pro X

Q: Very very dark video in FCP X viewer.


Configure your mail with mail.app on Mountain Lion

I suppose that most of the space required by your mails is due to the attachments. In this case you can avoid to store tham.

Indeed, in Mail.app you can configure IMAP for keeping only the text for off-line viewing and not the attachments.

Go to Mail > Preferences
Go to the tab Accounts and select your account
Go to the sub-tab Advanced
In the first combo-box select "All messages, but omit attachments"


macOS Sierra 10.12.6 can't connect to VPN using IKEv2. How to troubleshoot?

I had the exact same issue - turns out the VPN Server's certificate has expired.

Too bad there is not even a word in macOS about that, just an instant disconnect.

here's my thread: OS 10.13.3 IKEv2 VPN automatically disconnects


Quickly Focusing on Dialog Buttons Other Than Those in Focus

There is a set of default keyboard shortcuts that should serve the need of interacting with the default file save sheets:

Press Enter key to Save.
Press esc to Cancel.
Press Command + Backspace key combination to Delete or Delete Copy, Don't Save, etc.


How to change multiple file type associations on the Mac at once?

Step 1: Put the list of file types (from one of the categories below) into a text file at ~/types.txt, with one per line as shown.
Below are very exhaustive lists for three common media file categories.
Audio:
.2sf
.3ga
.a52
.aa
.aa3
.aac
.aax
.abc
.ac3
.acd
.acm
.act
.adg
.adts
.afc
.ahx
.aif
.aifc
.aiff
.al
.alac
.amb
.amr
.amz
.aob
.apc
.ape
.apf
.apl
.atrac
.au
.avr
.awb
.bap
.bmw
.bwf
.caf
.cda
.cfa
.cidb
.cm3
.cmc
.cmr
.cms
.copy
.cpr
.cwp
.dac
.dcf
.dcm
.dct
.dfc
.dff
.dig
.dlt
.dmc
.dsd
.dsdiff
.dsf
.dss
.dst
.dts
.dtshd
.dtswav
.dvf
.efa
.efe
.efk
.efv
.emd
.emx
.f64
.fc
.fl
.flac
.flp
.fst
.g726
.gnt
.gpx
.gsf
.gsm
.hma
.hmi
.hmp
.htk
.htw
.hvl
.iff
.iklax
.imw
.imy
.its
.ivc
.k26
.kar
.kdm
.kfn
.koe
.koz
.kpl
.ktp
.latm
.lds
.lha
.loas
.lqt
.lvp
.m3u
.m3u8
.m4a
.m4b
.m4p
.m4r
.ma1
.mat
.mdat
.mds
.mid
.midi
.mids
.mini2sf
.minidsf
.minigsf
.minincsf
.miniqsf
.minissf
.miniusf
.mio
.mka
.mlp
.mmf
.mon
.mp2
.mp3
.mp+
.mp_
.mpa
.mpc
.mpd
.mpp
.mpt
.mpu
.msv
.mt2
.mte
.mtp
.mup
.mus
.mxp4
.mzp
.ncor
.ncsf
.nki
.nrt
.nsa
.ntn
.nwc
.odm
.oga
.ogg
.oma
.omg
.omx
.opus
.ots
.ove
.paf
.pcast
.pcm
.pek
.pfv
.pla
.pls
.pna
.prog
.pvc
.qcp
.qsf
.r1m
.ra
.rax
.rex
.rf64
.rfl
.rif
.rmi
.rmj
.rmt
.rns
.rsd
.rso
.rti
.rx2
.sa1
.sap
.sbr
.sd2
.sds
.sf
.sfa
.sgt
.sid
.smf
.snd
.sng
.sns
.sprg
.spx
.sseq
.ssf
.ssnd
.str
.swa
.syh
.sz
.tac
.tap
.tfm
.tfmx
.tfx
.tm2
.tm8
.tmc
.trm
.tta
.ul
.usf
.usflib
.vag
.vmo
.voc
.voi
.vox
.vpm
.vrf
.vy1
.vyf
.w01
.w64
.wav
.wma
.wrk
.wus
.wut
.wv
.wve
.wwu
.xa
.xfs
.xhe
.xi
.xmi
.zgr
.zvr

Video:
.3g2
.3gp
.3mm
.3p2
.60d
.264
.aaf
.aec
.aep
.aepx
.ajp
.am4
.amv
.arf
.arv
.asd
.asf
.asx
.avb
.avd
.avi
.avp
.avs
.ax
.axm
.bdmv
.bik
.bix
.box
.bpj
.bup
.camrec
.cine
.cpi
.cvc
.d2v
.d3v
.dav
.dce
.ddat
.divx
.dkd
.dlx
.dm_84
.dmb
.dpg
.dream
.dsm
.dv
.dv2
.dvm
.dvr
.dvx
.dxr
.edl
.evo
.f4v
.fbr
.fbz
.fcp
.flc
.fli
.flv
.gts
.gvi
.gvp
.h3r
.hdmov
.ifo
.ircp
.irf
.ivr
.ivs
.izz
.izzy
.m1pg
.m2p
.m2t
.m2ts
.m2v
.m4e
.m4u
.m4v
.m21
.mbf
.mbt
.mbv
.mj2
.mjp
.mk3d
.mkv
.mnv
.mocha
.mod
.moff
.moi
.mov
.mp4
.mp4v
.mp21
.mpeg
.mpg
.mpg2
.mqv
.msdvd
.mswmm
.mts
.mtv
.mvb
.mvp
.mxf
.mzt
.nsc
.nsv
.nut
.ogm
.ogv
.ogx
.pds
.pgi
.piv
.plb
.pmf
.pns
.ppj
.prtl
.psh
.pvr
.pxv
.qt
.qtl
.r3d
.ram
.ratdvd
.rm
.rmbv
.rms
.rmvb
.roq
.rpf
.rpl
.rum
.rv
.sdv
.sfvidcap
.slc
.smk
.spl
.sqz
.sub
.svi
.swf
.tda3mt
.thm
.tivo
.tod
.tp0
.trp
.ts
.ty
.udp
.usm
.vcr
.veg
.vft
.vgz
.vid
.viewlet
.vlab
.vmb
.vob
.vp6
.vp7
.vro
.vsp
.vvf
.wd1
.webm
.wlmp
.wmmp
.wmv
.wmx
.wp3
.wtv
.xfl
.xvid
.zm1
.zm2
.zm3
.zmv

(For the few file extensions that I'm aware can apply to either video or audio, e.g. .ram, .mp4, .3gp, .3g2, I've put such an extension into the video list).
Image:
.006
.007
.1ff
.1im
.3dmf
.3dx
.7tif
.8pbs
.abm
.abr
.adi
.aex
.ai
.ais
.ait
.albm
.amu
.apng
.ard
.art
.arw
.asat
.avif
.b16
.bil
.bitmap
.bld
.blend
.blkrt
.blp
.blz
.bmc
.bmp
.bob
.bpg
.br4
.br5
.bum
.c4
.cadrg
.catpart
.ccx
.cdr
.cdt
.cdx
.cel
.cgm
.cht
.clp
.cm2
.cmx
.cmz
.comicdoc
.cpl
.cps
.cpt
.cr2
.csf
.cur
.cv5
.cvg
.cvi
.cvx
.dae
.dcim
.dcm
.dcr
.dcs
.dds
.design
.dib
.dng
.drg
.drw
.drwdot
.dt2
.dvl
.dwb
.dwf
.dxb
.easm
.ebm
.ec3
.edp
.edrw
.edw
.emf
.eprt
.eps
.epsf
.epsi
.exr
.fac
.face
.fbm
.fbx
.fc2
.fcz
.fd2
.fh11
.fhd
.fit
.flic
.flm
.fm
.fpf
.fs
.fw
.fxg
.gcimgd
.gif
.graffle
.gtx
.hd2
.hdz
.heic
.heif
.hpd
.hpi
.hr
.hr2
.htz4
.ibl
.icl
.icns
.ico
.icon
.icq
.ics
.idw
.ief
.iff
.iges
.igr
.ilbm
.ilm
.im1
.im24
.im32
.im8
.ima
.image
.ime
.imi
.ims
.ipj
.irf
.iss
.itc2
.ithmb
.j2k
.jfi
.jfif
.jif
.jiff
.jng
.jp2
.jpe
.jpeg
.jpf
.jpg
.jpg2
.jpm
.jps
.jpw
.jpx
.jt
.jwl
.jxl
.jxr
.k25
.kdc
.kodak
.kpg
.lda
.ldm
.let
.logo
.lt2
.ltz
.lva
.lvf
.lwf
.lxf
.mac
.macp
.mbm
.mcs
.mcz
.mdi
.mgs
.mgx
.mic
.mip
.mj2
.mng
.mpf
.mpo
.mtz
.mur
.nav
.ncr
.neu
.nff
.ngg
.njb
.nol
.nrw
.ntc
.nth
.odi
.odif
.ola
.opd
.ora
.ota
.otb
.otc
.otg
.oti
.ovw
.p21
.p2z
.pac
.pal
.pat
.pbm
.pc6
.pc7
.pcc
.pcd
.pct
.pcx
.pdb
.pdn
.pef
.pfm
.pgc
.pgm
.pi2
.pic
.picnc
.pics
.pict
.pictclipping
.pl0
.pl2
.pln
.plt
.pmb
.png
.pol
.pp2
.ppm
.ppsx
.prw
.ps
.psb
.psd
.psf
.psg
.psp
.pspimage
.psq
.pvl
.pwd
.pws
.px
.pxr
.pz2
.pz3
.qtif
.qtl
.qtz
.qxd
.ras
.raw
.rgo565
.ric
.rlc
.rle
.rs
.rsb
.rsrc
.rw2
.sct
.sdk
.sdr
.sec
.set
.sfw
.sgi
.sig
.skp
.sldasm
.slddrw
.sldprt
.snx
.srf
.sst
.sun
.sup
.svg
.svgz
.t2b
.targa
.tcw
.tcx
.tex
.tga
.tif
.tiff
.tjp
.tn
.tpf
.tpx
.trif
.trx
.u3d
.upx
.urt
.utx
.v00
.v3d
.vfs
.vga
.vis
.vpb
.vrl
.vtx
.wb1
.wbc
.wbd
.wbmp
.wbz
.webp
.wgs
.wi
.wmf
.wnk
.x-face
.x_b
.x_t
.xbm
.xcf
.xdw
.xip
.xpm
.xsi
.xwd
.yuv
.zdl
.zif
.zno
.zprf
.zt

(The above lists were collated from sources including dotwhat.net as at 2020.09.30 (audio, video, image), VLC's formats wiki, foobar2000 documentation, my own knowledge, and various programs' save / export file dialogues. From such sources, I removed a few that I deemed unsuitable as they are commonly used in non-media file contexts and may conflict, e.g. .xz was in a dotwhat.net media list, but it's usually an archive format.)
Some extensions may not open in the universal media player / image viewer you want to switch to, but you can fix it on a doesn't-work basis after the switch.
Step 2: Create temporary dummy files of every extension in an above category in your user folder.
Open Terminal.app, and using your txt file above do the following command:
while read -r line ; do mkfile 1b file${line} ; done < types.txt

Step 3: Select all dummy files in Finder at once, then press option+command+I. Under 'Open With', select the program you want to change the default to, make sure to click on 'Change All...' button, confirm, and it is done.


The Safari cache lasts for as long as the max-age header (see section 14.9) is set (by the server which is serving the file) for the specific file that is being cached, unless it is cleared manually. However, max-age=0 caches the file until the file is modified (or the server tells the client the file is modified).


Do Google Chrome and Safari keep sending my IP address to websites while in the background on iOS

Unless you have Background refresh turned on for Safari or Chrome, they don't.

Note that when you minimise a app, the app just stays in Stand-by mode. When you again use it, it refreshes the data by sending your information again.


Yosemite - Use fullscreen (as in proper fullscreen) for apps that don't support it

Apps must be developed using Apple's APIs to use the modern full-screen mode.

InfoLogic, Inc., the developer of MathMagic, must incorporate these APIs into their next release to use the mechanism Apple has provided. You can make a suggestion at the InfoLogic, Inc. site that they incorporate this handy view.


How can I redownload apps I deleted outside of iTunes?

If iTunes in the Cloud is available in your country (it is in most), go to the iTunes Store,  click on "Purchased" in the right-hand navigation bar, select Apps at the top, and then click the download button next to any app you'd like to download.


How do I find files with no extension in Finder?

You can set up a Finder search like this:

- None of the following is true:
- - Filename contains .
- - Kind is Folder

The Finder does however exclude some system items from search results. The same search criteria produced 19'077 search results in Finder and 131'666 in HoudahSpot.


How can I easily indent a block in any textarea on OS X?

You want to edit text, and for that you need a text editor. There is (easy) native way in OS X to do these kind of text manipulations.

I personally use BBEdit/TextWrangler for these kind of codings. command]

You can also use Automator to create a Service and use sed/regex to do the 'hard' lifting: (and bind a keystroke to this Service)

sed 's/\(^.*\)/\ \ \ \ \1/g':

sed can be used to edit lines of text. In this line sed globally substitutes a match of 'the beginning of a line and everything that comes after it' with '4 spaces and that match'.


sudo: effective uid is not 0, is sudo installed setuid root?

For whatever reason, you have a sudo installed in /usr/local/bin (see the output of type). Did you install something with homebrew or another package manager?

To fix, run

/usr/bin/sudo mv /usr/local/bin/sudo /usr/local/bin/sudo-strange

or (if you want to get rid of it completely)

/usr/bin/sudo rm /usr/local/bin/sudo


Thanks a lot for taking a look at it. I managed to repair this by creating partitions again.

I could find the GUIDs for each partition with gdisk

Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gdisk /dev/disk3
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1

Caution: invalid backup GPT header, but valid main header; regenerating
backup header from main header.

Caution! After loading partitions, the CRC doesn't check out!
Warning! Main and backup partition tables differ! Use the 'c' and 'e' options
on the recovery & transformation menu to examine the two tables.

Warning! One or more CRCs don't match. You should repair the disk!

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: damaged

****************************************************************************
Caution: Found protective or hybrid MBR and corrupt GPT. Using GPT, but disk
verification and recovery are STRONGLY recommended.
****************************************************************************

Command (? for help): i
Partition number (1-58): 1
Partition GUID code: C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B (EFI System)
Partition unique GUID: 809BE30A-C34D-46BF-9135-545BCA0367F4
First sector: 40 (at 20.0 KiB)
Last sector: 409639 (at 200.0 MiB)
Partition size: 409600 sectors (200.0 MiB)
Attribute flags: 0000000000000000
Partition name: 'EFI System Partition'

Then create partitions with gpt.

Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gpt add -b 40 -i 1 -s 409600 -t C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B disk3
disk3s1 added
Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gpt add -b 409640 -i 1 -s 731734976 -t 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk3
gpt add: disk3: error: entry at index 1 is not free
Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gpt add -b 409640 -i 2 -s 731734976 -t 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk3
disk3s2 added
Axiom:~ migara$ diskutil unmountDisk disk3
Unmount of all volumes on disk3 was successful
Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gpt add -b 732144616 -i 3 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk3
disk3s3 added
Axiom:~ migara$ diskutil unmountDisk disk3
Unmount of all volumes on disk3 was successful
Axiom:~ migara$ sudo gpt add -b 733414152 -i 4 -s 731472832 -t 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk3
disk3s4 added
Axiom:~ migara$ diskutil unmountDisk disk3
Unmount of all volumes on disk3 was successful

Thanks again!


Unlike the iOS App Store, the Mac App Store isn't the single repository for all apps you can install on the platform (excluding jailbreak). Developers are in no way obligated to make their apps available via the Mac App Store; in fact most choose not to.

As to why, that discussion is probably off-topic on this site. However there are many technical restrictions placed upon App Store apps that are generally incompatible with the way an antivirus-type application (eg. Malwarebytes) needs to operate.

This is why Apple Support would routinely point you to an app that is not available on the Mac App Store.


No option on App Store to update High Sierra to Mojave

Based on your post, your MacBook should be compatible with the Mojave update.

Once the App Store app finishes downloading and installing you should see a installer in the Launchpad (it should automatically open, otherwise try double clicking on it to manually start the installer).

If this doesn't work out you might want to look at making a bootable USB installer, and proceed with the installation after booting from the USB stick. See here (Apple Support Documentation)


Mute/unmute iPhone based on location or time

Settings > Do Not Disturb has many options available, as explained at this page:

or Apple's brief explanation here:

  Do Not Disturb

  Do Not Disturb is an easy way to silence iPhone, whether you’re going
  to dinner or to sleep. It keeps calls and alerts from making any
  sounds or lighting up the screen.

  Turn on Do Not Disturb. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to
  open Control Center, then tap the do not disturb button. When Do Not
  Disturb is on, the do not disturb button appears in the status bar.

  Note: Alarms still sound, even when Do Not Disturb is on. To make sure
  iPhone stays silent, turn it off.

  Configure Do Not Disturb. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb.

  You can schedule quiet hours, allow calls from your Favorites or
  groups of contacts, and allow repeated calls to ring through for those
  emergency situations. You can also set whether Do Not Disturb silences
  iPhone only when it’s locked, or even when it’s unlocked.

Its really quite handy, but what is lacking is the ability to schedule Do Not Disturb in the Calendar app for repeats and specific times of the day. That would be sweet.


Disable page curl animation in Lion's iCal

For some reason, holding Option down with the keyboard shortcuts doesn't work (iCal just beeps at you), but you can change the keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences to include the Option key, then it'll work.

For example, I changed the shortcut for "Next" from Cmd-Right Arrow to Cmd-Option-Right Arrow and changed "Previous" to Cmd-Option-Left Arrow. Now the keyboard shortcuts will navigate without the annoying page flip animation.

To do this, go to System Preferences, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Application Shortcuts, then hit the "+" icon, and enter the following details - Application: iCal, Menu Title: "Next", Keyboard Shortcut: Cmd-Option-Right Arrow. Then hit "+" again and enter Application: iCal, Menu Title: "Previous", Keyboard Shortcut: Cmd-Option-Left Arrow.


Unable to cut from text edit and paste into terminal

Well, I never thought I would see the day.

Restarting a mac to solve a problem... this is reminiscent of when I used to use Microsoft products...


System Preferences lock always unlocks itself after restart

Go to Security & Privacy, then Advanced.

check the box for Require an administrator password to access locked preferences

That should ensure all the lockable prefs default to locked.


Have you checked to see if it is already there?  Most postgres installers will create it for you, and so running grep postgres /etc/passwd will tell you if it exists.  Most system accounts on macs start with _, so if you do have to create it, you might consider calling it _postgres, which seems to be common.

The question is similar to question 82472, which should provide what you need to create an account from the command line. There are some useful additional caveats in the comment thread and other answers there. Basically, you use the dscl . create command to create the user in Apple's Directory Services with all of the properties needed to define the user.


Enable standby mode / deep sleep on SSD macs with mounted SD-card

SleepWatcher works fine with Mountain Lion. I've written an extensive guide to address the exact problem to unmount and auto re-mount of SD Cards and any external HDDs using sleepwatcher.


How to reformat and re-install an old G5

You can restart while holding down the C key to boot from a valid Mac OS X Install CD / DVD for that G5 based Mac. To pick and choose what disk your machine can boot from hold down the option key while starting the Mac.

Also depending on which version of Mac OS X is installed there are different ways to reset the password in single user mode. This may be an option for you if you just want to  unlock and add / remove users and you have a startup CD/DVD for that Mac.

See  Changing or resetting an account password for some instructions on how to reset the password.


"The operation couldn’t be completed. (BKAgentServiceErrorDomain error 8.)"

This is crazy, but it worked (after everything else failed). I opened:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Updates

And clicked on the ePub/PDF files there. iBooks opened them. In my case, I had 1 ePub file, and 1 PDF file. I don't know how or why, but I can confirm that it is an issue related to the Updates folder, because simply deleting that folder caused the problem to resurface.

To all those out there - good luck dealing with this infuriating app.


iPhone and iPad suddenly can't access local IPs

It's looking likely that the problem is a bug in the DD-WRT firmware on my Netgear WNDR3700 router.

I haven't been able to fix it yet.

People in that thread suggest that running the following commands in the router would be a suitable workaround, but I haven't gotten them to work yet:

swconfig dev switch0 set enable_vlan 1
swconfig dev switch0 set apply

UPDATE:
Oops, it's potentially not a bug in that firmware; I am even having problems after swapping out the router. But since this other router uses DD-WRT too (although a much earlier version of the firmware), I'm leaving this answer here since it's still my best guess and might help someone.


I've talked with Apple Support, and they determined that it is probably a software glitch. The only solution is a reinstallation of iOS.


Creating iPad screenshots required for Apple Store submission

You can run the app in the Simulator that comes with Xcode. Set it up as a 12.9" iPad Pro and grab screenshots using the built-in tool.


I found it:  Fn + Shift + Option (Alt) + ←


How to turn off hyperlinks in Notes in iOS so you don't accidentally click them?

At least for iOS 11.2 the following works:

Select the text you want to unlink (or position the cursor “inside” it or directly before or after it)

Switch to the format keyboard (not the format tool-tip):

Click “Body” twice on format keyboard:


Why mbp keyboard light stays on while playing video in fullscreen?

YouTube is a web-based video platform and VLC is a 3rd party program. These are not Apple-made applications and so may not be built specifically for the hardware you are using.

You can control the MacBook Pro keyboard lighting on your F5 and F6 keys for these 3rd party applications.


How to solve audio sync issue on the Mac? (and it is not just by a constant out of sync amount)

I made a workaround which works for short clips: at around 5:00 i split audio and resync second part (drag it backwards by around 0.4s so that is overlaps a little with 1st part). If clip is longer than 10 min I repeat operation at around 10:00; split audio again and resync 3rd part, and so on.

You can do it also for longer clips but it gets more and more tedious


Can Safari on an iPad be controlled with gestures?

Yes - Dolphin Browser supports gestures. So do Atomic Web Browser and Perfect Web Browser.

As you correctly realised the answer is no for Safari, unless you count the four-finger swipe up to get to the current app list, and other system gestures.


How to upgrade to Yosemite without AppStore

I have AppleID account without Credit Card.

It works just fine in getting latest updates like Yosemite.


You would probably need to use AppleScript to discern the status of apps' windows being minimised or not, although you can run this AppleScript from the command line by using the command osascript:

osascript <<OSA
    use application "System Events"

    set _P to a reference to (every process where the ¬
        value of attribute "AXMinimized" of ¬
        every window contains true)

    set _Q to a reference to (every process where the ¬
        value of attribute "AXMinimized" of ¬
        every window contains true and the ¬
        value of attribute "AXMinimized" of ¬
        every window does not contain false)

    -- every app that has at least one minimised window
    name of _P

    -- every app that has all windows minimised
    # name of _Q
OSA

As you can see, I've defined two variables, _P and _Q, that both contains apps with minimised windows, but discriminate differently based on whether every window of the app or just some of the windows of the app are minimised.

I've commented out the last line of AppleScript, name of _Q by putting a # at the start.  This means the script will ignore this line, allowing it to return the value of the line above it, which is name of _P.  If you remove the #, the script will return the value of name of _Q.


I think having 235GB free space on a 256GB SSD Macbook Pro is not very likely on an active system. 256GB SSD Mac normally has about 250 GB of available space. The system and pre-installed apps would easily take much more space than 15 GB.

On the other hand, mac storage reporting can dynamically change (up or down) as calculations take place. You might have been observing that going up and down in calculations.

On a fresh installed OS, much things can be going. For example, spotlight might be building an index. As you browse web-sites, Safari or Google chrome will also be building up its cache. Likewise, if you use Spotify, even it will cache the songs you are listening. Therefore, I suggest that you use the system for a while and then see if the storage calculations settle down.

When the things settle down, you can make an analysis of used space and try to see if everything is normal or not. Hope that helps.


Can an Xbox 360 be hooked up to a Thunderbolt display?

The Thunderbolt display expects a full Thunderbolt signal (that is, muxed PCI-Express and DisplayPort). It will not work with DisplayPort-only sources.

To date, I've not heard of any announced (let alone released) adapters that could drive a Thunderbolt display from a non-Thunderbolt source.

If you really need to do this, you might be able to hook the Xbox up to an HDMI capture card (it needs to support HDCP) that is connected to a Thunderbolt-equipped computer to which the display is connected. These capture cards are usually used by professional video editors and can be quite expensive.


Troubleshooting is basically a process of elimination and often requires patience. Below I have some steps for you to try and report back on.

1. Safe Mode

What happens when you run your computer in Safe Mode? To do this:

Fully shutdown your computer
Restart your computer and immediately hold down the Shift key
Once you're logged in, use the computer for long enough to establish if you still have the problem.
Fully shutdown your computer again
Restart your computer normally
Once you're logged in, use the computer for long enough to establish if you still have the problem.

Once you've done the above, report back on how your computer was in Safe Mode and how it was again when not in Safe Mode.

2. Reset your NVRAM

Older Macs had what's called Parameter RAM (PRAM), newer Macs use Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory (NVRAM). It may be worth you also resetting this. Here’s how to:

Shut down your machine. Yes, a full shut down, not just logging out.
Press the power button and then press the commandoptionpr keys. You have to make sure you press these keys before the gray screen appears or it won’t work.
Hold those keys down until your Mac reboots again and you here the startup chime.
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally.

Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. mouse speed, time and date/timezone, etc).

3. Reset the SMC

Your computer's System Management Controller (SMC) can also be reset. The instructions for doing this on your particular MacBook are:

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

After resetting both your NVRAM and SMC, use your computer and report back on how it's now going.


How to fix the error: "AppleSpell" tried to hijack endpoint "it (Apple)_OpenStep" from owner?

Let’s dig into the stalls and memory errors directly as this message cleared up for me on updating the OS. Any chance you would like to make a follow up question, just link in the comments below and I’ll gladly have a look.

There are more than one libraries, and you’re calling the older one and not the newer one, so this is just a versioning issue that happens from time to time AFAIK.


What do I do when I get a "sync session failed to start" message when syncing iPhone to itunes?

On your iPhone, force close all the Apps in the multitask window. Depending on your version of iOS, you do the following:

On iOS 7 and before:

From the Home screen, click the Home button twice.
Tap and hold on the app.
When it starts to jiggle, tap the X to close it.
Repeat until all the apps have been closed.

On iOS 8:

From the Home screen, click the Home button twice.
Swipe the application preview window upwards to close the app. (you can close multiple apps at once)
Repeat until all the apps have been closed.

Now do a Soft reset of your iPhone:
Hold both Home and Sleep button for around 10secs until you see the Apple logo then release. After it returns to Home screen, connect to sync and see if this resolves the issue.

Source: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18381241#18381241


From netstat's manual page:

  The netstat command symbolically displays the contents of various network-related data structures.  There are a
       number of output formats, depending on the options for the information presented.  The first form of the command
       displays a list of active sockets for each protocol.

pse@Mithos:~$ netstat
Active Internet connections
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q  Local Address          Foreign Address        (state)
tcp4       0      0  localhost.8228         localhost.52662        ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  localhost.52662        localhost.8228         ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  192.168.1.30.52661     stackoverflow.co.https ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  localhost.8228         localhost.52656        ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  localhost.52656        localhost.8228         ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  localhost.8228         localhost.52651        ESTABLISHED
...


Log out other user w/o first switching to that user

Using the Terminal, you can kill her loginwindow process and any programs she has open will be closed... but this will cause her to lose any unsaved work she has! In fact, this is the very reason you need to log in as her to log out: When you log in as her, all her programs again have access to the GUI, so they can prompt you to confirm closure, save changes or take other action before logging out.

If you're sure that she only has things like a web browser, iTunes, etc open, not Pages, Word, Photoshop, or anything else with documents, then you could try from the terminal:

kill `ps awwwwux | grep her_short_username | grep loginwindow | grep -v grep | awk "{ print \$2 }"`

On OSX 10.10.4: (slight edit from last comment):

export pn=`ps awwwwux | awk '/her_short_username/ && /loginwind[o]w/ { print $2 }'`
sudo kill -9 $pn


Is there a way to use video files from other sources on iMovie on iPad/iPhone?

This is a total guess, but when you get photos in emails and on the web in safari, you can save them and they appear in your camera roll.

Could the same trick be used to save movies?


The cleanest (and safest; see below) solution would be to set up Carbon Copy Cloner to automatically mount the clone disk/partition before the backup starts and unmount it once the backup is finished. See:
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc4/performing-actions-before-and-after-backup-task

Not only would this prevent the problems you have described, it would also protect you a bit better against ransomware, which unfortunately made its appearance for the first time on OS X a week ago, because your backup would only be vulnerable during the daily cloning window and not all the time.

Short of doing something radical such as stripping the executable rights from all your files on the backup disk (which would also break the backup), I don't see how you could prevent applications to be launched from it, and even that might not prevent helper code to be executed by a main application.

What you could do is add the backup disk to System Preferences->Spotlight->Privacy. That would at least prevent you from accidentally launching apps from the wrong disk yourself using Spotlight (or launchers that rely on Spotlight such as Alfred).


How to sync ForkLift Favourites and settings across computers?

At the risk of resurrecting this old thread, I've just had the exact same problem.

According to the developers the next major version will allow syncing of password-protected favorites via Dropbox. As of this writing no release date has been set.

In the meantime you could try this.

ForkLift preferences – including Favorites – are stored in

/Users/your-user-name/Library/Preferences/com.binarynights.ForkLift2.plist

Move – not copy – this file to your Dropbox. I placed mine in a folder named ForkLift.

Next, you need to create a symlink using the ln command in Terminal with the -s switch. This is important as simply dragging the file in the Finder to create an alias will not work.

ln -s /Users/your-user-name/Dropbox/ForkLift/com.binarynights.ForkLift2.plist /Users/your-user-name/Library/Preferences/com.binarynights.ForkLift2.plist

The downside is that passwords are not copied. Also, having ForkLift open at the same time on different machines will likely cause a file conflict with the preference file. But this solution works for me.


Horizontal lines appear when using Apple Pencil on iPad while charging

I seem to have found a solution to my own problem, so posting it here in case others have the same issue.
I have been charging my iPad from my Macbook, which was also charging at the same time. As soon as I remove my Macbook from its power source, the issue disappears. It seems that the AC power entering the Macbook was somehow interfering with the iPad!


What is the difference between a reset and delete

When you reset you basically restarting the hardware and the device reloads the software.

When you delete you remove all the data from the device.

Though to solve your problem I would suggest you try the following:

Use iTunes to Restore your iPod to factory default. Once complete reload your content.

when you restore you erase the device completely and it reinstalls a new copy of the software to the device.

Regards

Kyle


Cannot toggle between YouTube on full screen and other apps in Google Chrome

I don't think that's possible. When you go full screen, it becomes kind of a new desktop (three finger swipe up, at the top you see all the desktops). The only way to switch between full screen items is via switching desktops.

You can swipe to the other desktops by swiping three finger either right or left or use ^ Control → or ←


Force an app to run one of its menu options from a shell script?

This is a beginning of an AppleScript to do the exporting:

set filename to "test file"

tell application "NetNewsWire" to activate
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "NetNewsWire"
        click menu item "Export Subscriptions…" of menu "File" of menu bar 1
        set value of first text field of first sheet of first window to filename
        click button "Save" of first sheet of first window
    end tell
end tell

tell application "NetNewsWire" to quit

It will save the exported file with the set filename at the location which was last used to do the exporting. It will not overwrite a currently existing file, so maybe you can save it in a temporary place and move it with a separate script.

Note: My copy of NetNewsWire had the menu command "Export Subscriptions…", not "Export Feeds", but if yours is different, just change the name of the menu item on line 6.

Edit to add: You also need to have "Enable access for assistive devices" in the Universal Access System Preference Panel set to enabled for this to work.


Monodevelop on OS X and Displaying UTF-8

Since this is a duplicate, which still has not been closed, and the issues in question have been fixed, I will quote the accepted answer there:

  Several common Mac programs have clipboard manipulation features that seem to corrupt MD's memory. It's a known issue and is documented here.
  Unfortunately my answer remains that same as my answer in the thread you linked: the Mac version of the Pango library that MonoDevelop uses for font rendering does not support glyph fallbacks, but you may be able to work around this by using a font that contains all the glyphs you need. If you could be more specific about the charsets and where you are seeing issues, we may be able to provide more specific answers.

  [NOTE: both these issues have since been fixed]


How to reduce tooltip appearance delay in Xcode?

Tooltip delays can be adjusted globally from the command line. To reduce it to one millisecond (1/1000 second), fire up Terminal and enter:

defaults write -g NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 1

To only affect Xcode, tell the defaults command to only alter that value in the Xcode preferences domain, rather than setting it globally:

defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 1

I believe if you're running version 5 (?) or earlier of Xcode, the domain used to just be com.apple.Xcode , so:

defaults write com.apple.Xcode NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 1

If I am missing some other prefs domain they've used, this command will show the top contenders:

defaults domains | tr -s ', ' '\n' | grep -i 'xcode'

To reset anything you've changed, just run the same command above you used to shorten it, but change the 1 on the end to the "factory default" setting of 1000 (1000 milliseconds = 1 second), e.g.

defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 1000


Mac's internal Bluetooth no longer works; is it possible to use a Bluetooth-via-USB adapter?

Yes, you can. USB Bluetooth adapters work just fine on the Mac.


The man log page shows two switches, --file file and --archive archive. You will likely need to include one of them when working with archives from another system which didn't originate on the local system.

log show [--archive archive | --file file] [--predicate filter] [--source] [--style default | compact | json | syslog] [--color auto | always | none]
     [--start date/time] [--end date/time] [--[no-]info] [--[no-]debug] [--[no-]signpost] [--last time [m|h|d]] [--timezone local | timezone]

The man page goes on to detail those 2 switches like so:

    --archive archive
                     Display events stored in the given archive. The archive
                     must be a valid log archive bundle with the suffix
                     .logarchive.

    --file file      Display events stored in the given .tracev3 file. In order
                     to be decoded, the file must be contained within
                     a valid .logarchive bundle, or part of the system logs
                     directory.

Example

Since you're working with .logarchive formatted files you likely want to use the --archive switch:

$ log show --archive /tmp/unifiedlogsv2/unifiedlogs.logarchive


Can I copy an iTunes Library from another Mac

Not sure what you need past this article, but sure - you just need two folders worst case:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204318

The folder where the library index and cached files exist.
The media folder if it’s not a sub folder of #1 above.

You will want to tell iTunes on the sending copmputer to reorganize all media files and copy/move them to the data folder and then run the “organize” command once or twice to be sure all the files are correct - organized and in the right folders.

Then move the two (one) folders to the new computer and point itunes to the correct location of the library. iTunes won’t merge two libraries - so be sure you don’t expect a merge on the receiving computer.


Logging is enabled by default. The logs can be inspected using the Console app open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app. Select "Errors and Faults" and look for "neagent" lines.


How to recover data from MacBook which won't startup properly?

If you happen to have a thunderbolt cable and a spare mac you can try your luck with target disk mode. Target Disk Mode is a feature that allows a Mac to act as an external hard drive.

Connect the two computers with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable.
Start up the computer to be used as a disk in target disk mode:

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

When the computer has started up, a disk icon appears on the desktop of the other computer.
Transfer files by dragging them to and from the disk.
Eject the disk by dragging its icon to the Trash. While you drag, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon.
On the computer you used as a disk, push the power button to shut it down, and then disconnect the cable.

Instructions thankfully provided by Apple's KB


What kit enables iPhone or iPad use for wearable computing?

Wearable computing is an interesting problem. You can do some of it by getting something like the google glasses, which won't be released until next year at about $1500, or finding a vendor for the project. You would then have to get the adapter for your iDevice to output svga/dvi and interface that with the HUD (Heads up display)
Next, for input, you would likely have to get a bluetooth keyboard. There used to be a frogpad (not sure if they still make them) that supports bluetooth, but it is a chorded keyboard. Chorded keyboards take some getting used to, but can be very good and very fast once you do.

At the moment, I don't know of a kit you can buy to do this, it will likely take some work sourcing the parts like the glasses and keyboard.


Thunderbolt 2 Dock - Display stops working after waking from sleep

The actual problem was the thunderbolt cable itself. The cable was cracked on both ends, meaning that a good connection could not be established between the dock and macbook. Purchasing a brand new thunderbolt 2 cable from apple has solved this issue completely.


iCircuit

iCircuit is the easy to use electronic circuit simulator and designer - the perfect tool for students, hobbyists, and engineers.
Its advanced simulation engine can handle both analog and digital circuits and features realtime always-on analysis. It is the perfect companion to students, hobbyists, and engineers.


Can every YouTube video be played on the iPad2?

I would like to know if every YouTube video is playable on iPad2.

No, not every single video but most YouTube videos are playable on iOS devices. It is not easy to determine which videos are playable other than just trying to play them. There are a few reasons why YouTube videos may not be playable: old videos may have not been converted to H.264 (remember before the iPhone, YouTube was all Flash) or the owner of the video may not want it to be viewed on mobile devices or embedded in websites.

Further does iPad2 play .avi or .mp3 or .flv videos ?

Kind of. It will handle mp3 and PCM stereo audio in .avi, but not flv.

For example can an iPad2 play these videos -
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/qcdscat11/arkanihamed/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ3M3tp0GJE

I can confirm the YouTube video you linked to works fine. The other link has a bunch of different formats but most of them are not playable. The flash links will not work. Usually mov links will work but these don't look like they are H.264 and do not work. Usually 3gp works as well but I could only open it in OPlayer.

If iPad can't play these then is there an app which makes it possible?

OPlayer doesn't work for every codec, but it does bridge the gap sometimes. And it has a free lite version so it is worth the download.
I think you should take a look at the official audio and video formats supported by the iPad 2:

Video mirroring and video out support:
Up to 1080p with Apple Digital AV
Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter (cables
sold separately) Video out support at
576p and 480p with Apple Component AV
Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple
Composite AV Cable Video formats
supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30
frames per second, Main Profile level
3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and
.mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to
2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC
audio up to 160 Kbps per channel,
48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and
.mov file formats; Motion JPEG
(M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720
pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in
ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file
format


Can't connect iPhone as an audio input to my Mac

You just overlooked ther fact that by the time your iPhone button says "Disable",
it is already connected!

Go to your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)/Preferences/Audio and point to your iPhone as an Input Device.

In Ableton:

and in Logic Pro X for example:

Hope this helps!


Are there compatibility problems with buying iPhone 4 overseas?

As long as the iPhone is unlocked and to connected to any network, you can use it in any country.

You will need to check that if you are buying in the USA and you are getting an iPhone 4 you will need to buy a GSM phone as all Australian networks use GSM after Telstra shut off CDMA, if you are buying an iPhone 4S you need't worry as these combine both networks for maximum coverage.

You may find it useful that some iPhones in some countries are always sold unlocked such as France and Belgium where it is against the law to sell subsidies handsets on contracts.


Is there a method to clone my macOS into fresh OS installer like Windows WIM?

The concept of a registry or binding to AD means that all Macs are in the sysprep state always. There’s really no analog to needing to prepare a clone since any backup will work to drop a restored image. You can use asr or Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper or Time machine or APFS snapshots to make clonable images of macos including the apps, accounts, settings.

The installESD is more like the windows ISO than something that contains user date or settings.

Apple has tons of documents now on the automated install scripts to reinstall the OS - and in the past NetBoot could be used to clone and image, but macOS is now designed to do a clean install and then restore user files / apps / settings rather than slip streaming a new OS. Both get you to the same end point, automated, but the tools needed are different since you just install macOS and then run a migration script to get the data in and upgraded to the new OS if the migration is also an upgrade.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208020 Install for Catalina and newer macOS versions
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205054 NetBoot for older macOS versions


How to make "say" command speak AND output to the file at the same time

In one command with the built-in say command, no; in two built-in commands (say and afplay), yes:

$ say -o /tmp/output-file.aiff Hello
$ afplay /tmp/output-file.aiff

In my example, this introduces a very small delay:

$ time sh -c "say Hello"

real    0m0.778s
user    0m0.008s
sys 0m0.012s

$ time sh -c "say -o /tmp/output-file.aiff Hello && afplay /tmp/output-file.aiff"

real    0m1.048s
user    0m0.050s
sys 0m0.048s


Custom mail check interval in Mail App on OS X?

You could use the following command in Terminal (or add it to a shell script).

defaults write com.apple.mail PollTime 240

Where 240 is the time in minutes (i.e. 4 hours).


During writing the posting's last line I thought just disconnect from the Windows PC.

Now it works!

Reconnecting Windows again. But now don't get sound from there. I thought pairing with two devices means getting sound from both, but that's obviously not the case.


What is the keyboard shortcut for "Open With" in Finder?

The best solution for me:

Select file you want to open
Press ⇧+⌘+/ (opens up the mighty Help search)
Then start to type a name of app you want to open
Use arrow keys to select right menu item
Press Enter
Done!

For example I want to open HTML-file with Sublime Text instead of Chrome.
I navigate to this file, press shortcut, type in "su", press down-arrow and press enter!


Shortcut to turn off “do not disturb“ after period of time

It might not be the best way to achieve what you want but here it goes.

the "wait" can be searched.


Use Time Machine disk as regular disk without deleting all the files

Yes, you can store other files on a volume that is also being used as a TM backup.

Though make sure you've got a backup for those files somewhere else. ;-)


Is it possible to record Voice Memos on Apple Watch while on an iPhone call?

Just to close the loop here, yes, you can record audio on your Apple Watch while your iPhone is on an active call (on speaker phone). I do this all the time to supplement my notes from an important phone call with an audio recording… with the permission of the person on the other line, of course.


Change accessibility setting on Mac using terminal

klanomath's answer looks good, but if you're like me and aren't as familiar with SQL, want more granular control (enabling/disabling individual apps instead of all at once), or want a clearer interface to work with, you should check out tccutil.py.

Using tccutil, the command you'd want to run to enable an app is

sudo tccutil -e app.bundle.identifier

For example, if you wanted to enable BetterTouchTool, the command you would run is

sudo tccutil -e com.hegenberg.BetterTouchTool

I'm assuming that if you wanted to enable BetterSnapTool the last part would just be com.hegenberg.BetterSnapTool but I don't have that installed on my computer so I can't verify.

You can easily find the correct bundle identifier by running sudo tccutil -l after you've installed the app and it's asked for accessibility permissions (just look for the identifier that maps to the app you want to grant permissions to). If that doesn't quite work (like if the bundle identifier isn't what you expect it to be), you can find it by viewing the app bundle's contents, finding the Info.plist file, and finding the value for the CFBundleIdentifier key.


What is the MacBook Pro's infrared port used for?

Most typically, it is used for the Apple Remote, which can control iTunes, QuickTime and various other built in software. Additionally, 3rd party software (see Sofa Remote and Remote Buddy) also makes use of the device and can tie in much more functionality.

In the past (prior to Lion), the Apple Remote was an excellent companion to Front Row, a media manager that some call the predecessor to the Apple TV interface.


Bind SSL certificate to local port for Mono/OWIN

In OS X, the process responsible for accepting incoming connections is responsible for setting up and enforcing SSL/TLS. In most cases this will be a web server like Apache's httpd or nginx.

Take a look at SignalR and HTTPS for links and help to enable SSL support in signalR services.

Stunnel

If you can not enable SSL within your service, consider using stunnel:

  Stunnel is a proxy designed to add TLS encryption functionality to existing clients and servers without any changes in the programs' code. Its architecture is optimized for security, portability, and scalability (including load-balancing), making it suitable for large deployments.

Install with brew

stunnel is available through Homebrew. Once brew is installed, install stunnel using:

brew install stunnel


Is there a way to emulate an Xbox controller?

I haven’t used these to emulate an XBox One controller, but I have used these to emulate a whole range of others:

USB Overdrive
ControllerMate

I’d start with USB Overdrive as it offers a much simpler interface. ControllerMate provides a lot of advanced functionality, but can take quite some time to suss out.


How can a spammer create an email that can't be deleted on an ipad mail app from an imap server?

If your mum can't delete the mail after restarting or disconnecting from the network and restarting, you can look at one of two

Delete the mails using a webmail interface and then delete the account from the iPad.
Then contact your ISP/Mail provider if the mail syncs down after you have cleared it from webmail.

If you can't delete the mail off webmail - then it's 100% on the server side so contact them in that case, too.

Good luck - you can expect dozens more emails about viagra and more since there's no signs that the hard work that will need to be done to eliminate spam / abusive / promotional / malware laden emails will ever be funded by free email services. Also good news, if this was on a computer, you’d also probably need to remove malware from the computer as that’s usually the end result of these spammy/sticky emails.


Why repeat a try statement in AppleScript before returning an error?

Applescript is seems to suffer with timing issues that usually are solved be using a delay. Often this delay needs to be tuned to match the speed of a particular model Mac. In other words, the delay hard coded in the the AppleScript may work on a newer faster Mac, but need to be increased when run on a slower Mac.


Go to Insert > Date & Time.

Double-click the date and format to taste. Make sure "Automatically update on open" isn't ticked.


The problem is you didn't select the disk properly. You see how you selected "WD"? You need to select the item above it, where it says "WD My Passport...". Then you'll be able to partition it.

Edit (from Tetsujin): You also need to make sure that the drive is formatted as Mac OS Journaled (also known as HFS+) with a GUID partition scheme.


What am I going to do with an iMac 27 inch's display 3, 4 years from now?

The display port on the latest iMac's (actually since late 2009) acts as both an output (for an external display) or an input (to make the imac screen a monitor).

See http://smokingapples.com/asides/new-27-imac-doubles-up-as-external-monitor/


Modify Trackpad Right click via command line without logout

I think you would need to reload the kext for it

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBTrackpad.kext to disable it.

Change kextunload to kextload to re-enable it.

Now create a script from above so you can run it with one click.

Sorry, that was for the external trackpad.

For the internal that would be to unload:

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch; sudo touch /system/library/extensions ; exit


Can Time Machine volumes be easily encrypted with FileVault 2?

According to the Lion features page, encrypted backups are supported.


Where does OS X store your current desktop picture?

In current versions of macOS (at least in Mojave, probably since Sierra, not sure about others) the location of the desktop pictures are stored in a SQLite database located at ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db.

I did not dig into details of the database structure but you can get the file path with this command:

sqlite3 -readonly ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db \
    'SELECT * FROM data ORDER BY rowID DESC LIMIT 1;'


Stop autocorrect in Microsoft Office changing custom symbols to emoji

For some reason your Word would appear to be using Apple's Color Emoji font by default for symbols. Changing the font for them should fix it.
The representation of symbols as emoji or text can be a complex issue, see this document.


How to get info of specific iNodes inside Terminal

To get extended info of an existing inode use find:

sudo find / -inum $inode -exec ls -ilaO@ {} ";"

Replace $inode by the real inode-ID e.g.:

sudo find / -inum 1745768 -exec ls -ilaO@ {} ";"
find: /dev/fd/3: Not a directory
find: /dev/fd/4: Not a directory
1745768 -rw-r--r--  1 user  staff  - 79 13 Nov 12:30 /Users/user/.oracle_jre_usage/613bcfb3a06ef613.timestamp

To see the data use the appropriate app or a command line tool (cat, file etc).


I get notification in Mac, though App is installed in iPhone


Remapping keyboard shortcuts in Chrome and Firefox

You can achieve this using the keyboard prefs just as you were trying. You simply need to create one more shortcut.
In Chrome you would:

Set Command-D to Open Location…
Set Command-L to Bookmark This Page…

By setting an explicit shortcut for Bookmark This Page… you get rid of the conflict an ensure there aren't two menu options with the same shortcut.


Mac freezes at startup at apple logo after permission changes

Assuming you didn't change ownership (users/groups) but instead only changed the permissions...

Try issuing the command:

chmod 1775 /


No, there isn't. El Capitan is a major release which replaces a lot of (or even most) files of the OS. So the "big" Installer from the Store is both an Installer and an Updater.


If you've installed brew and strongswan to the default locations the standard "brew" etc location is /usr/local/etc/.

The folder contains all folders and sub-folders required by strongswan/ipsec etc.

Entering ls -Ral /usr/local/etc should reveal something like (slightly redacted by me to omit my user name and some unrelated folders were removed from the output):

total 40
drwxr-xr-x  12 user  admin  -  408 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxrwxr-x  19 user  admin  -  646  7 Mär  2017 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -  608 27 Feb 02:36 ipsec.conf
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  -  340 27 Feb 02:36 ipsec.d
-rw-------   1 user  admin  -   48 27 Feb 02:36 ipsec.secrets
drwxr-xr-x   7 user  admin  -  238 18 Dez 05:13 openssl
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -  281 27 Feb 02:36 strongswan.conf
drwxr-xr-x   9 user  admin  -  306 27 Feb 02:36 strongswan.d
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  -  578 27 Feb 02:36 swanctl

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 user  admin  - 408 27 Feb 02:36 ..
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 aacerts
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 acerts
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 cacerts
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 certs
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 crls
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 ocspcerts
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 private
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 reqs

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/aacerts:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/acerts:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/cacerts:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/certs:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/crls:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/ocspcerts:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/private:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/ipsec.d/reqs:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 user  admin  - 340 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/openssl:
total 568
drwxr-xr-x   7 user  admin  -    238 18 Dez 05:13 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 user  admin  -    408 27 Feb 02:36 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 275049 18 Dez 05:13 cert.pem
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -     68  6 Aug  2016 certs
drwxr-xr-x  11 user  admin  -    374 14 Nov 16:29 misc
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -  10835 18 Dez 05:12 openssl.cnf
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -     68  6 Aug  2016 private

/usr/local/etc/openssl/certs:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 user  admin  -  68  6 Aug  2016 .
drwxr-xr-x  7 user  admin  - 238 18 Dez 05:13 ..

/usr/local/etc/openssl/misc:
total 112
drwxr-xr-x  11 user  admin  -  374 14 Nov 16:29 .
drwxr-xr-x   7 user  admin  -  238 18 Dez 05:13 ..
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  - 5679  6 Aug  2016 CA.pl
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  - 5688 18 Dez 05:12 CA.pl.default
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  - 5175 18 Dez 05:12 CA.sh
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  -  119 18 Dez 05:12 c_hash
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  -  152 18 Dez 05:12 c_info
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  -  112 18 Dez 05:12 c_issuer
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  -  110 18 Dez 05:12 c_name
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  - 6419  5 Jun  2017 tsget
-rwxr-xr-x   1 user  admin  - 6384 18 Dez 05:12 tsget.default

/usr/local/etc/openssl/private:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 user  admin  -  68  6 Aug  2016 .
drwxr-xr-x  7 user  admin  - 238 18 Dez 05:13 ..

/usr/local/etc/strongswan.d:
total 64
drwxr-xr-x   9 user  admin  -   306 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 user  admin  -   408 27 Feb 02:36 ..
drwxr-xr-x  29 user  admin  -   986 27 Feb 02:36 charon
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -  1792 27 Feb 02:36 charon-logging.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 10794 27 Feb 02:36 charon.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -    65 27 Feb 02:36 pki.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -    79 27 Feb 02:36 scepclient.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -   173 27 Feb 02:36 starter.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  -   151 27 Feb 02:36 swanctl.conf

/usr/local/etc/strongswan.d/charon:
total 216
drwxr-xr-x  29 user  admin  - 986 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x   9 user  admin  - 306 27 Feb 02:36 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 138 27 Feb 02:36 constraints.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 135 27 Feb 02:36 counters.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 278 27 Feb 02:36 curl.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 137 27 Feb 02:36 curve25519.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 215 27 Feb 02:36 eap-gtc.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 139 27 Feb 02:36 eap-identity.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 134 27 Feb 02:36 eap-md5.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 139 27 Feb 02:36 eap-mschapv2.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 245 27 Feb 02:36 kernel-pfkey.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 255 27 Feb 02:36 kernel-pfroute.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 132 27 Feb 02:36 nonce.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 301 27 Feb 02:36 openssl.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 248 27 Feb 02:36 osx-attr.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 130 27 Feb 02:36 pem.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 130 27 Feb 02:36 pgp.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 132 27 Feb 02:36 pkcs1.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 132 27 Feb 02:36 pkcs8.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 133 27 Feb 02:36 pubkey.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 283 27 Feb 02:36 revocation.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 491 27 Feb 02:36 socket-default.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 133 27 Feb 02:36 sshkey.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 986 27 Feb 02:36 stroke.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 132 27 Feb 02:36 unity.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 297 27 Feb 02:36 updown.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 221 27 Feb 02:36 vici.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 131 27 Feb 02:36 x509.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 user  admin  - 140 27 Feb 02:36 xauth-generic.conf

/usr/local/etc/swanctl:
total 32
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  -   578 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 user  admin  -   408 27 Feb 02:36 ..
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 bliss
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 conf.d
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 ecdsa
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 pkcs12
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 pkcs8
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 private
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 pubkey
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 rsa
-rw-r-----   1 user  admin  - 14353 27 Feb 02:36 swanctl.conf
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509aa
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509ac
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509ca
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509crl
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -    68 27 Feb 02:36 x509ocsp

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/bliss:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/conf.d:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/ecdsa:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/pkcs12:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/pkcs8:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/private:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/pubkey:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/rsa:
total 0
drwxr-x---   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509aa:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509ac:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509ca:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509crl:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..

/usr/local/etc/swanctl/x509ocsp:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   2 user  admin  -  68 27 Feb 02:36 .
drwxr-xr-x  17 user  admin  - 578 27 Feb 02:36 ..


Dead battery on two year old purchase - pulled new out of the box MacBook Pro touch bar 13''

Lithium ion batteries should be kept at 50% charge for long term storage and it's possibly your battery had permanent damage if the voltage went too low - or into deep discharge state. Ideally, you would charge the battery up to 50% once every 6 months to avoid this (which isn't helpful news now that it's been 2 years for yours).

The good news is Apple warrants batteries for 1 year from purchase and 3 years with AppleCare and occasionally will cover a battery even out of warranty.

I would seek service, but you might have to pay for the repair if it's outside the time window for Apple to cover the cost. They can check on AppleCare or any other special circumstances and offer you more detailed advice on the cost for your repair if that's needed.

You've done all the things I would check:

one reset of SMC
charge for a day, try to run off charge and then charge for a second day
check the System Profiler / System Information to see the cycle count / full charge capacity and condition details

The next step is official service for a diagnosis and repair quote.

Here are the relevant parts of Apple's battery page on maximizing perfoance:

  Do not fully charge or fully discharge your device’s battery — charge it to around 50%. If you store a device when its battery is
  fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state,
  which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you
  store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may
  lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life.
  If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months.


App store says I have recently updated High Sierra but appears I'm still on Mavericks?

The App Store screen only say what you have downloaded, not installed.

Check if the download file is still on your hard drive named "Install macOS High Sierra" in your applications folder.

If Yes double click on it and it will start.

Once the install was successful the install file will self destruct.

Because of that I usually make a copy of it before it self destruct, so I can create a bootable USB later (when I have time for it). = Procrastinating :)


Why I can't use the 'define' button after updating to iOS 9.0.2?

Go to Settings -> General -> Language & Region -> and make sure the languages you want your iPhone to recognize are in the "Preferred Language Order" list.

If the language you prefer is already in that list, tap "edit" to delete the language, and then add it back up. This should add the language's dictionary and enable the "define" function.


Replaced OWC Mercury Accelsior E2 that I am using as a start up disk and it keeps disappearing

When updating to Yosemite you will want to make sure that you are at least running 10.6.8. Running the early versions of 10.6 when updating to Yosemite, will cause errors.

You will also want to make sure that the TRIM has been disabled. Please take a look at this OWC Blog post for instructions: http://blog.macsales.com/27116-disable-trim-before-upgrading-to-yosemite

I am a member of management with Other World Computing


Pages: can I change the document font size but retain the italics?

I'm not quite sure what you're doing to affect the italics. Changing one aspect should not change any other.
Select all text. Multi-style selections will show as Multiple in the style box. In the Text tab click the size button… all else is retained except the font size.
Window shrunk to only show relevant area…

If your text already has multiple font sizes, meaning the point size box is greyed out, then use  Cmd ⌘   and  +  or  -  which will change all by one point at a time, maintaining relative sizes.
If you use that box in this instance, all type will be set to the same font size, breaking the relationship.


Under Settings > Messages > Receive At, remove your email address, you should then only receive the messages on your iPhone 4S.

You can also, set up a new Apple ID for your brother. He should then be able to receive iMessage on both his phone number and his email address.


This was fixed simply by upgrading to 11.1.2. The badge doesn’t return after re-checking for updates. It was only released in the last 24-48 hours and I upgraded to 11.1.1 pretty fast too, so pretty sure the badge was not originally showing for 11.1.2 availability.


Input not recognised when using Switch Control remotely

I found out myself and I hope it'll be useful to other people. I don't think this has been done before.

You need to use BetterTouchTool to assign your remote input to the local trigger you want to use on the target machine, then go into BTT's preferences and tick the box "Always use the old keyboard implementation" in advanced keyboard settings. Now you have it, Switch Control will finally recognise your remote input and transmit it to your iOS device.

Couple that with QuickTime's ability to display a USB wired device on the target machine, and you can now 'remotely control' that device using ARD or any other Mac-to-Mac remote control app such as iTeleport or AnyDesk. Of course Switch Control is very clanky way to control an iOS device, but at last it's now finally possible!

Thank you Apple for making my life a clanky hack joy. Next time please make an ARD that directly tunnels to iOS.


Rename file to match containing folder's name

If you already have a variable with the name you want, the easiest way would be to add a Rename Finder Items action after the PDF is created. Set it to Name Single Item, and you can just drag in the variable as the new name.