Is it possible to install JDK 7 after installing MATLAB on Mountain Lion

Short answer: Yes. It'll work fine if you put JDK 7 back after the installation. Though you might have to do the same thing if you decide to de-activate Matlab at some point.

You've got a few options.

Option A: Use a newer Matlab

An easy fix could be to use Matlab R2014a. It supports Mavericks and comes with its own bundled JVM so it doesn't use the system JVMs. I just installed it on my Mavericks machine last week, which didn't even have Apple's Java 1.6 installed, and it worked fine. (I also looked at the source to confirm its "Activate" uses the bundled JRE.)

Option B: Temporarily Uninstall JDK 7

If that's not an option, it sounds like removing the JDK 7 is only needed during the installation process. I'd guess because it shells out to the default java for the software activation program instead of using the Matlab app's normal JRE detection and embedding logic. "Activate MATLAB" is a separate Java program, not part of the Matlab executable, so it's run using java. So you can put JDK 7 back once Matlab is installed; normal Matlab execution won't use it.

You can conveniently temporarily uninstall the JDK 7 by just moving it out of the /Library/Java directory so the system doesn't see it. Then you don't have to go through the whole download and installation process again.

cd /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines
mkdir ~/disabledJVMs
sudo mv jdk1.7.0_51.jdk ~/disabledJVMs
% also change the JAVA_HOME definition if you set it in an rc file or /etc/launchd.conf

% ... now install Matlab ...

% And restore the JDK
sudo mv ~/disabledJVMs/jdk1.7.0_51.jdk .

You can confirm the uninstallation worked with /usr/libexec/java_home.

Option C: Hack the Matlab Installer!

If you want to get fancy, you could actually hack the Matlab installer to force it to use Apple's JDK 1.6 for activation.

During the installation process, once all the files are copied in to /Applications but before you launch the Activation dialog, do this:

Go in to /Applications in Finder, right-click MATLAB, and choose "Show Package Contents".
Start an admin-enabled text editor from the Terminal with sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit.
Open bin/activate_matlab.sh in that TextEdit. Find where it's setting the paths to java and hardcode them to point to the Apple 1.6 JDK, which is in /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk. In the R2014a activate_matlab.sh, it's in functions setVMenvironment and setVMpath, and it sets up a JRE_HOME variable, which needs to be set to /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home.
Do the same to deactivate_matlab.sh

And then you can proceed to the software activation step in the Matlab installer you left running, and I bet it will work even with JDK 7 in place.


Exporting iTunes smart playlist definitions

If you select a smart playlist, then choose File > Library > Export Playlist... and choose the XML file format, you can then use the corresponding Import Playlist... command from another iTunes library to import the smart playlist definition.

Unfortunately, iTunes only lets you select one playlist at a time, so there's no way to select multiple playlists and export them at the same time. You can do the "Export Library..." which does everything, but then you have all sorts of extra stuff you don't want.

If you're comfortable hacking around a bit though, you could export the whole library, then use PlistEdit Pro to edit the file and remove all the playlist and track dictionaries that you don't want, leaving just your smart playlists. Then you'd have all the playlist definitions in a single file that you can import into another iTunes library.


No one can hear me talking when I call people from my iPhone 5c unless I'm on speaker...

This happens frequently to me, but turns out my phone is simply connected to a bluetooth device that I thought was turned off. Try turning off bluetooth just to eliminate this as an issue.


Which USB keyboards will work with an iPad 3?

Yes you can, but it doesn't seem to work under the new iOS6.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqCk6nz80Ps


That is great. It sounds like Apple tests their hardware well before sending it out.

Obviously without asking them you can't know for sure, but presumably those two battery counts are to ensure that the battery that you have in the laptop right now is a good battery that performs to spec.


Connect old Cinema Display (24") as 2nd Display to newest iMac?

There is no reason why it shouldn't. TB has the same connector that mini display port. So you won't even need an adapter.


Are my frequent Safari beach balls caused by my extensions?

I'd say it's definitely possible, if not likely.

For starters, turn off extensions altogether, to verify that they're causing the issues. Then I'd suggest disabling them one at a time (which sounds like you've tried partly), until you can isolate which one is causing the issues.

If that doesn't help (but all extensions off does), then try only one of your Javascript blockers at once, in the event that some conflict between them is causing problems.


Can Mail fetch email signature set using Google Mail?

I ended up using Outlook Desktop as it allows me to copy/paste the GSuite signature.
With the Apple Mail is a pain to resize the images and you just cannot float them.

I opened a tread on Apple Community: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250552009 and I hope to receive a reply.

But I believe there is no easy way out. You cannot copy/paste or import signature from GSuite and you might need to edit everything.

Very silly.


Is it possible to turn off the trackpad low battery notification?

I don't mind the alert or warning, but I do mind the weeks of having a blinking icon in my Menubar.  Here's what I did in Terminal:

$ cd /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu\ Extras/Bluetooth.menu/Contents/Resources/
$ sudo cp lowbatt.pdf lowbatt.backup.pdf
$ sudo cp BlueTooth_Connected.pdf lowbatt.pdf

  This replaces the low battery icon with the same connected icon.  I assume the icon is still "blinking" in that it's switching one for the other, but since they're now the same, you don't notice.

  Now I get the 20%, 10%, 5% alerts, but no annoying blink.

  This is in Lion.  It's likely that system updates and perhaps even Mountain Lion will undo this, but it can probably be reapplied after updates are performed.

  For Mountain Lion, the relevant files are named:

  Bluetooth_Low_Battery.pdf
  Bluetooth_Connected.pdf

How can you disable the low battery warnings for bluetooth devices? by seanhussey


Resetting admin password which is tied to an Apple ID?

If it's locked by an AppleId, the only chance you have is to contact the owner of the AppleID or contacting Apple support for companies.


Will the iPhone Lost Mode override disabled location tracking?

You should turn on lost mode.

The next time it checks in over the network it will adjust location prefs and report in.

If it never checks in, your last settings will prevail.


DiskWarrior ships with a recovery CD/DVD and has instructions/phone/web support on how to deploy it once you have purchased it. Since it's commercial software, they provide support in getting it installed and working.

Similarly, you could boot into Recovery HD and work on fixing or erasing the drive as the situation warrants.


Why does Apple Mail not provide default color font choice?

Apple Mail, since at least 10.4, has never provided a way to set a default font or color that will be seen by recipients.  The preferences settings are for local viewing only. Many have asked for this to be changed, but they clearly do not care. You have to use another email client or one of the addons which have been created to compensate for this (whose names escape me at the moment).


How can I clear unwanted music off of my iphone?

These songs are iTunes purchases that are available for download but not currently on your iPhone. To hide these:

Settings > iTunes & App Store > Show All: Music = OFF


Synology NAS (DS218+) and Full Disk Encryption (FileVault2)?

Every topic regarding encryption on a Synology NAS addresses “Folder
  Encryption” rather than encrypting the whole disk....As I see it, the easiest way would be to encrypt the whole disk using Apples File Vault2.

You can't use Apple's "whole disk" encryption on any NAS device because if you were actually able to, the NAS won't be able to access it.

When you are connecting to a NAS, you are mounting a shared volume (not a disk); even if that volume happens to spans the whole disk.  Synology's built in folder encryption is designed specifically to address this.


Macbook Pro (late 2011 15") is stuck in a boot loop

Does this mean it has a dead GPU?

Yes. Absolutely. This means it is one of thousands GPUs killed by inadequate thermal design that finally bit the bullet. As all MBPs from that era are defective by design it is impossible to keep them around for the amount of time you would expect from a quality product.
If this machine is still around then it can be partially resurrected with a procedure like this:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/295805/251859
This bypasses the AMD GPU through a forced EFI variable. No amount of SMC reset voodoo or the like will restore a GPU dead MBP.
You might want to bake the chip for a flaky temporary fix like with the iBake procedure.
The only real fix though is to either sue Apple like they deserve for lying on this to us all or to replace only the AMD chip in question. That is way cheaper than to go the now defunct Apple road of replacing a faulty board with another faulty board.
Converting it over into a Linux machine makes the GPU bypass on a defective machine easier, but will not do much good for keeping it around long enough.


How do I stop iCal from automatically adding alarms to new events?

There is an option in the preferences "General" tab, called "Add a default alarm to all new events and invitations". Maybe that's activated?


Safari lost half my extensions and passwords after a system crash

As you may have noticed from my question, I was very determined to find a solution and finally I found one. If you have a Time Machine setup then you're lucky. All you need to do is to restore those 4 folders (remember to select all the contents from the backup) to the time before the crash.

~/Library/Safari/Extensions/

~/Library/Keychains

/Library/Keychains

/System/Library/Keychains

(Probably not all are needed, but this worked for me)

Restart and open safari to check that everything is on place. Re-enable Keychain if it was disabled (mine was enabled, but turned to disabled in this process). Enjoy.


Can I retrieve text messages if I backed up to wrong date?

If you did not have a recent back-up of your device (on iCloud or iTunes), there is no way, after a restore, you can get your SMSs back.


Mac Pro 1,1 OSX 10.6.8 corrupted display

It seems that you're seeing two problems simultaneously: video corruption and a software error returned by your antivirus application. This suggests that the system has possible hardware issues. I would boot the system to the Apple Hardware Test and run diagnostics to see whether there is a hardware failure. Video corruption is often traceable to a bad GPU and/or bad RAM. Since you replaced the video card, the bad GPU is unlikely.

If AHT returns errors, you may wish to take the system into a Genius Bar or authorized Apple repair centre for further evaluation. If not, you may have a transient issue. You can try swapping around/removing RAM to determine if one or more of your SO-DIMMs have gone bad.


Camera is being used by another application -- which one?

MicroSnitch or OverSight might help. See https://tidbits.com/2020/07/22/feeling-paranoid-micro-snitch-tells-you-if-your-mac-is-spying-on-you/
EDIT: these are for macOS, not iPadOS.  My apologies.  I'm leaving it here in case these references are useful to others though.


Assuming you still have a current Apple ID, you would set up your old iPhone to send/receive messages on your Apple ID email address, rather than your mobile number.

First you need to ensure you're logged into iCloud on your old iPhone.
Go to Settings > iCloud to do this.
Second you need to set what 'addresses' you want to have your iPhone send/receive iMessages with. Go to Settings > Messages and tap on the Send & Receive option. You will see two sets of addresses, one you can be reached at and one you start conversations from. You will need to ensure that the Apple ID you use for iCloud is added and ticked.

NOTE: Your old iPhone can only send/receive iMessages while connected to the internet. Also, it will only work with the email address (people won't be able to send an iMessage to your mobile number as it's now on an Android device).

Should you run into any problems, post back using the comments function below.


Safe way to cancel shrinking hard drive partition

Unless there is a  Cancel button that, when pressed, gives a warning that it will revert the current action, wait it out.

If there is no Cancel button, then you have no choice but to wait.
If you force it to stop halfway through, your data will be in an uncertain state.

BTW running a backup to the same storage medium is rather pointless... if the drive goes down it takes your backup with it.


Java application won't force quit, prevents shutdown

You should be able to use Terminal to kill the process, if you know it's name with the following commands.

Find the process identifier (PID). Substitute [your process here] with the name of your process.

ps -e | grep "[your process here]"
The PID will be on the left most column. Here is example output:

7642 ttys001    0:00.00 grep
Now type, into terminal, substituting [PID] for your process' PID

kill -9 [PID]
Re-run step 2. If the process is no longer there, you've successfully killed it.

Brief explanation of steps:

ps gives information of running processes. In this case, we used grep to filter out the specific process we were looking for.
The format of ps's columns is PID/TTY/TIME/CMD. The field we are interested in is PID.
kill -9 sends the undeniable SIGKILL signal to the process specified in PID. This signal cannot be ignored by any process and is hence promptly terminated, no ifs or buts.
As mentioned above, ps gives information of running processes. If your process is no longer in ps's output, it's no longer running.

I would recommend fixing that weird exit bug of yours.

killall Dock only kills the Dock process, which forces an update of programs running. This may make your application disappear from the dock, but the app may still be running in the background.

Personally, I don't have any problems with Java apps in El Capitan. I'm no Java expert so I probably shouldn't suggest any reasons for this unexpected behavior. Have you tried filing a bug report?


Can I downgrade to macOS Mojave if I buy the new 2019 MacBook Pro?

Update

Apple has released a new 16" MacBook Pro on 13 November 2019. It replaces the 15" MacBook Pro lineup. The new 16" MacBook Pro comes pre-installed with macOS Catalina 10.15.1 and cannot be downgraded to run macOS Mojave, or earlier releases of macOS.

Yes

So far, year 2019 has seen three releases of MacBook Pro:

13-inch, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports (May 21, 2019).
15-inch (May 21, 2019).
13-inch, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports (July 9, 2019).

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro#Technical_specifications_4

All three of them came pre-installed with macOS Mojave 10.14.5 (However, the build number of macOS for the former two is 18F132, and for the one released in July is 18F2058).

Source: Mactracker macOS app

macOS Mojave saw a point release past 10.14.5 with the current latest public release at 10.14.6.

  Can I downgrade to macOS Mojave if I buy the new MacBook Pro?

So, yes it is possible to downgrade to run macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later on all the MacBook Pro's released in 2019 till date. Even if the MacBook Pro you purchase comes pre-installed with macOS Catalina 10.15, it would be possible to install and run macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later as the build includes the necessary drivers for the newer machines.

Note: This above information will most likely not hold true for any newer Mac/MacBook hardware that happen to get released by Apple during the remainder of the year 2019.


Connect Apple Wireless Keyboard with my MBP

Default bluetooth of MBP 2011 does not support Bluetooth 4.0 so not compatible with the latest Apple Wireless Keyboard (i.e. 3rd gen with two batteries). No hardware upgrade possible.

External USB 4.0 adapter possible.
Similar problem in the thread Early 2009 iMac upgrading to Bluetooth 4.0.
This dongle IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 Micro Adapter is one possibility as discussed Using unsupported Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle with OS X.
The dongle is not shipped to Finland.
The only option is to order a corresponding item from China, etc google osx bluetooth 4 dongle site:dx.com, for instance Ultra-Mini Bluetooth CSR 4.0 USB Dongle Adapter - Black.


How can I AirDrop my photos and videos from my iPhone5 to my MacBook Pro Retina?

With iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 Yosemite, you can share files over AirDrop between Mac and iOS.

With Mavericks and earlier, and iOS 7, this is not possible. AirDrop on iOS only works with "other nearby iOS 7 devices", and AirDrop on OS X only works "between supported Wi-Fi-enabled Macs" and they must "click the AirDrop icon on their computers".

iOS: Using AirDrop details the inability to share cross-platform:

  AirDrop for iOS supports only iOS 7 devices. You cannot use AirDrop on iOS to share with OS X, and OS X users can't use AirDrop to share with iOS devices.

AirDrop on OS X is detailed in OS X: Can I use AirDrop with my computer? and OS X Mountain Lion: Share your files with others near you (emphasis mine):

  AirDrop is one of the great new features of OS X Lion and later, which provides a really easy way to share files between supported Wi-Fi-enabled Macs without having to connect through the local Wi-Fi network.

  To see other people nearby, click the AirDrop icon in the sidebar of a Finder window. The other people must also click the AirDrop icon on their computers.

AirDrop on iOS is detailed in iOS: Using AirDrop (emphasis mine):

  AirDrop lets you share photos, videos, websites, locations, and more with other nearby iOS 7 devices.


Changing Font back after copying and pasting item

It tends to happen because the last space or 'new line' didn't get deleted too, so any further typing is already set to that new font. This can happen in any text app, it's not Word-specific.

The 'proper' way to fix it is to make sure everything was tidily deleted & that the font from the end of the current part is as it should be...
...which is a complete nuisance to bother with, so...

The 'clever' way to do it is just go back to before the last full stop [.] (period US Eng) & start typing from there instead.
That way you know that the font, at that point, was already set to what you were using.
You can forward delete that full stop if you wish, it tends to prevent auto-correct & spellcheck from working properly whilst it's there.

An alternative, but only if you haven't already spent some time doing specific formatting, is to select all  Cmd ⌘   A  then re-select your chosen font, which will set the entire document.


Macbook Pro Retina Screen Shot problem -- again

A Retina display's default resolution is 1440x900. I believe the screenshot feature takes a screenshot of what the monitor "seeds", so a 2560x1600 resolution of a 1440x900 screen.

I'd have a look at RetinaCapture, an app designed to take screenshots on a Retina Mac.


How to remove green hyperlink box in preview?

Found a simple solution. If you print the pdf and download the print preview you will get a flattened version of your pdf.


How many partitions should I make and what formatting schemes should be used on those partitions?

According to this article you can get OS X to read and write to NTFS, so if you are planning on using the disk for both, then go with NTFS. The one thing you need to check is if Time Machine will write to NTFS. It writes to NAS's which are not using an Apple proprietary file system, so it may work okay, just check before you commit to it.

As for partitions, the way Time Machine works is that it lays down an initial backup and then does incremental backups so that you can do things like go back in history and recover an accidentally deleted file as well as restore a Mac completely. It gives you each backup point in the most recent month, then it makes one month archives back for as much space as you give it. It starts to delete old archives when it runs out of space. You could probably get by with a 500GB partition for you 250GB SSD. You may want to consider 750GB if the go back to previous versions option sounds important to you. If not, go with the smaller partition and then you can have more room on the other partition for media archiving.

I am going to add a word of caution. In my personal experience, external USB HDD's are extremely unreliable. Almost every one that I have purchased, especially Western Digital Passports have bricked on me. I have lost data as I was doing the same thing you were doing and was extending my storage. I learned better.

Your best bet if you have a router is to get a two disk NAS that you can set up via ethernet. Internal Drives, especially HGST tend to be far more reliable than their external cousins. Two disk NAS from Synology is reasonably priced, easy to set up, and will give you the added benefit of being able to set it up as a RAID, which provides an added level of protection in that if one drive goes bad, you can always swap in a new drive and have the RAID rebuilt. RAIDs are not fool-proof, so you want to make sure you have a back up of this as well. Here you can take a gamble with an external USB HDD as your data is on the more reliable NAS.


I have a temporary solution. You can install "Smart Scroll mac" and add specific setting for Teamviewer like follows (all other settings=off).

Then, you can use the trackpad in teamviewer normally. Btw, I recommend you buying this app.


Using a apple tv box as a second monitor to your osx machine

This functionality is due in the fall with the next OS X version.  You'll have to wait a few more months.


https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/issues/4558#issuecomment-408225004

Brew does have the gnu version in the coreutils package. It installs it as gbase64


What harm will denying ocsp.apple.com do?

OCSP requests send a hash for every program you run, so that trustd can report the information (to a third-party CDN run by another company, Akamai).  The purpose is to effectively verify whether the app that is launching is notarized or not by attempting to validate any Apple-related cryptographic certificates.  With the release of macOS 11, we could no longer block certain Apple OS services with apps like Lulu and Little Snitch, as per the new restrictions to how third-party kernel extensions can function as well as to their scope of control.  This feature was then removed with the release of macOS 11.2.
If you always know what you're installing and you trust the processes running on your Mac, there might not be an immediate consequence of blocking the OCSP requests.  Since they require an internet connection, you could instead toggle your network connection to resolve any slow-downs the next time Apple's servers freeze up.  If you want to block the OCSP requests, your solution should work (at least for that address).  If you want to disable the service, you can try the following commands:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.revocation.plist OCSPStyle None
sudo defaults write com.apple.security.revocation.plist OCSPStyle None

I can't verify that it will make a difference, since Apple removed the conventional method to accomplish the equivalent in Keychain Access → Preferences years ago.


The disk “Vol” couldn’t be ejected because “Terminal” is using it

If you cd- change directory to the mounted filesystem then you must cd out of the filesystem before you can eject it. As an example

cd; diskutil eject /Volumes/<volume name>

cd: changes the current working directory to your home folder

diskutil: ejects the filesystem

There is one case where the tab needs to be closed. Sometimes the initial working directory is on the volume. (This can happen if you open a new tab from an existing tab that is visiting the volume.) When this happens, two processes are initially using the volume: login, and the shell it launches. cd will change the working directory in the shell, but won't affect the login process. The only way to make login stop using the volume is to close the tab.

If you're not sure which tab(s) to close, you can use lsof:

sudo lsof -a -c login /Volumes/<volume name>

This command will show the process IDs (and other info) for all login processes that have open some subdirectory of the volume. With the process ID, you can either:

(if Terminal is configured to show the TTY name in the title):

get the controlling terminal with ps (ps -o tty -p <login pid(s),>)
find the relevant tabs from the Window menu
close them

more simply, shut down the relevant login by sending it/them a SIGHUP (kill -HUP <login pid(s)>)


Change the default keyboard input when logging into macOS Big Sur

If you have FileVault activated and are struggling to set your desired language on the login screen try the following:

Turn off FileVault
In terminal execute this to copy your keyboard settings to the login screen sudo cp ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.HIToolbox.plist /Library/Preferences/
Turn on FileVault again
Reboot

Tested on Big Sur


I am no longer able to burn discs using my MacBook's SuperDrive. How can I fix it?

I reset the SMC and the SuperDrive is working again.


How do I open two/multiple fullscreen views simultaneously in 10.7 Lion?

Unfortunately, you can't. I am hoping Apple will fix this as soon as possible as well.

There's a trick where you can put some app in the fabric space, as documented in OS X hints.

  However, if you utilize the full-screen swipe gesture to move to a separate full screen and pause/stop in the middle with multiple Spaces in view and invoke another application (i.e. via Spotlight), the spawned application can reside in the 'fabric space' or anywhere else. It basically remains attached to that space.


Why does my recent calls list have entries from the future?

Unfortunately, there's no way to change the Recent calls timestamps.

You will either have to wait past the 1/12/13 or you could consider deleting those numbers. Course, you would obviously lose the phone numbers, and that data, but it would keep your true recent calls on top before it starts working again on 1/12/13.

It appears to be indeed changing time on the iPhone that has caused this issue, as I was able to repeat it easily. In testing it, I switched off "automatic" time, and change the date to tomorrow. After that, I made a phone call and then changed it back to set the time automatically. The phone call that I made during the manual time change indicated that I made the call tomorrow. 1/10/13, in this case.

So, your iPhone uses local time - the time that displays on the phone at the top of the screen - to log, order, and display recent calls.


Why my iPhone vibrates for several seconds everyday at 12 O'Clock?

It could be anything from an alarm, to push notification from an app you have installed.  The best way to find out what it is, is check your Notification Center.  Pull the bar at the top down to see all your recent notifications. You should be able to see which one happened at 12 noon and take it from there.


My solution:

duplicate the slideshow,
resize the entire document (Document tab of the 'properties sidebar' > Slide Size dropdown)
copy the correctly sized elements back to the original doc.

Any variation of this will probably work - the key principle is that if you resize from the Arrange properties tab, objects will resize whilst text won't; if you resize the document: everything stays in proportion.

Using the accepted answer's method, I wasn't able to edit the content I'd pasted from preview (the pdf contains a rasterized png, I believe).


If you add your Google account as an Exchange account you can theoretically sync an unlimited amount of Email on your device. To do this, follow the instructions at Google to use Google Sync with Gmail (http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=138740) and after that change the option "Mail Days to Sync" to "No Limit". The Option "Show XX Recent Messages" will be ignored (this is actually intended behavior, see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2723).


Failed To Install syslinux on USBDRIVE with Mac OS X

No there isn't syslinux on Mac OS X.
You will have to install it first as described on this blog:
Creating a bootable USB stick from OSX

The essentials steps will be based on:

Disk Utility,
Syslinux
UNetbootin

The second explains the few basic steps to get and install Syslinux.


Where is the location of the file that stores Mac keyboard shortcuts?

Cocoa text system keybinding defaults:

The standard key bindings are specified in /System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Resources/StandardKeyBinding.dict

To override Cocoa text keybindings:
...create a file named DefaultKeyBinding.dict in ~/Library/KeyBindings/ and specify bindings to augment or replace the standard bindings. You may use the standard bindings file as a template. It is recommended that you use the Property List Editor application to edit a bindings dictionary. You may use another application such as TextEdit or Xcode, but if you do you must ensure the encoding of the saved file is UTF8.

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/EventOverview/TextDefaultsBindings/TextDefaultsBindings.html


Applescript: Detect if Mouse or Trackpad attached

Okay, first I misread your question so I've rewritten my answer and second because the "Scroll direction: natural" preference setting is global, I've rewritten the code as well.

As coded there are two subroutines, one each for the mouse and the trackpad (internal or external) that's called based on the existence of the defined devices. That's defined as in the value for mouse, externalTrackpad and internalTrackpad as returned from the do shell script commands configured to look for Apple Magic Mouse, Apple Wireless Trackpad and an Internal Trackpad. Theses commands can be changed as needed/wanted.

Basically what happens is the variables are initialized and then tested by the if statements and acted upon accordingly as coded.

If a mouse and external trackpad doesn't exist and an internal trackpad doesn't exist then a message is displayed and the script terminates.
If a mouse and external trackpad doesn't exist and an internal trackpad does exist, then the TrackpadIsAttached subroutine runs, the "Scroll direction: natural" checkbox is unchecked (if checked) and then the script terminates as the setting is global and there is no need to process further.
If either a mouse or trackpad (internal or external) exists then either subroutine runs as appropriately coded, the "Scroll direction: natural" checkbox is unchecked (if checked) and then the script terminates as the setting is global and there is no need to process further.

on MouseIsAttached()
    tell application "System Preferences"
        activate
        set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.mouse"
    end tell
    tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
        tell radio button 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 to if value is 0 then click
        tell checkbox 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 to if value is 1 then click
    end tell
    tell application "System Preferences" to quit
end MouseIsAttached

on TrackpadIsAttached()
    tell application "System Preferences"
        activate
        set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.trackpad"
    end tell
    tell application "System Events" to tell application process "System Preferences"
        tell radio button 2 of tab group 1 of window 1 to if value is 0 then click
        tell checkbox 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 to if value is 1 then click
    end tell
    tell application "System Preferences" to quit
end TrackpadIsAttached

tell current application
    set mouse to (do shell script "system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType | awk '{ FS = \": \" } ; /Apple Magic Mouse/ { print $2 }'")
    set externalTrackpad to (do shell script "system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType | awk '{ FS = \": \" } ; /Apple Wireless Trackpad/ { print $2 }'")
    set internalTrackpad to (do shell script "system_profiler SPUSBDataType | awk '/Trackpad:/ { print \"Internal Trackpad\" }'")

    if mouse is equal to "" and externalTrackpad is equal to "" then
        if internalTrackpad is equal to "Internal Trackpad" then
            my TrackpadIsAttached()
            return
        else
            display dialog "The Mouse and Trackpad are not connected." buttons {"OK"} default button 1
            return
        end if
    end if

    if mouse is equal to "Apple Magic Mouse" then
        my MouseIsAttached()
        return
    end if

    if externalTrackpad is equal to "Apple Wireless Trackpad" then
        my TrackpadIsAttached()
        return
    end if
end tell

Obviously I used my Apple Magic Mouse and Apple Wireless Trackpad as examples and tested against to ensure it worked as coded on my MacBook Pro. You can use whatever manufacture, make, model for an external mouse and trackpad and you'll just need to edit the script appropriately. If you need additional help with that just ask. Also I tested this under OS X 10.8.5 and it worked for me as written.


Awkward dialog box: MZFinance.InAppBuyLoginRequired_message

Very similar error messages have been noticed by developers and users alike.
Check out this blog post. It's not an identical error message but perhaps this will fix it for you as well:

AppleCare found the solution and it is rather simple. Now this solution has worked for me, but there is no guaranty that it will work for you.
Solution: Go to Macintosh HD (or whatever you call your HD in Finder) > Library > Preferences > SystemConfiguration
For there look for the file labeled: “NetworkInterfaces.plist”

So, you might test this remedy by making a good backup of your Mac and ensure you either have the network passwords and VPN setup files you need (or can regenerate them / reset your WiFi routers to passwords you know) and delete the NetworkInterfaces.plist file.
If that fails to work, you may need to open a Mac App store support ticket and involve Apple in troubleshooting this further. If you can document the steps needed to reproduce this error, please post a follow up question.
Chances are there is a bug in some Mac App Store software that was downloaded onto your computer and getting Apple support involved mit fix it for you and others at the same time.


update_dyld_sim_shared_cache is taking up a lot of memory

This specific program is used to update a separate dynamic linking cache for the Simulator app that comes with Xcode. It runs to update the cache at times such as for example after updating Xcode and after installing new iPhone/iPad/iOS/iPadOS models/versions in the simulator.
Normally it should run to completion within a reasonable time, and then go away until the next update.
If it keeps running for hours and hours, it is safe to stop the process. The cache will be updated automatically later as necessary.


If what you posted was literally what the directory name is, then this should work:

cd /Users
mv hook1\?\?\? hook1

The problem, as fd0 points out, is that you have invisible/unprintable characters in your directory name. Use basic, non-destructive shell commands to isolate the directory name using wildcards, then rename it.  For example, try this:

cd /Users
ls -ld h*

That should result in exactly one directory being listed. If it does not, continue to add letters before the * in order to create a wildcard mask that produces exactly one result:

ls -ld ho*     # produces 3 results
ls -ld hoo*    # produces 1 result

If you get to a point where you go from more than one result to zero results, then you've stumbled upon another invisible character. Back up one letter, add a question mark then re-add the letter.

ls -ld ho*     # produces 3 results
ls -ld hoo*    # produces 0 results
ls -ld ho?o*   # produces 1 result

If you still have problems, play around with more * and ? until you have something that produces exactly one result:

ls -ld ho*     # produces 3 results
ls -ld hoo*    # produces 0 results
ls -ld ho?o*   # produces 0 results
ls -ld ho*o*   # produces 1 result

Once you have that, then use that in your mv command:

mv ho*o* hook1

If none of this works, please post the results of you ls -ld experiments.


How do I easily convert an audiobook (.m4b) to a standard audio file?

I dug around for quite a long time to find this answer and finally found out that under the info box, there is a drop-down menu in the Info box under Info>Options:

And the drop-down menu allows you to choose where it will show up:

All that converting was done for nothing...


How to tell can I tell if my iPhone 5c is 3G or 4G?

If you see a 3G at the top left it means that you are in an area which does not have 4G support.

When you are in an area with 4G (or, on Verizon, LTE) you will see that in the top-left corner instead.


Can one sync iTunes between two OS X machines? How?

I have a setup in which my entire iTunes library (not just my media folder) is housed on an external hard drive. This allows it to be portable - I take it between computers, open iTunes, and it'll 'update' the database so it can pull from it. All data and settings in mine transfer over.

The drive makes it easier when managing a very large music library with a multitude of playlists and also want to update your phone from multiple computers/eases replacement of an existing computer. This might be able to achieve the same result you're looking for, and will also address the concerns over space. I was able to pick up a 1TB external USB 3.0 drive for ~$100.


Get components (path and filename) of POSIX filepath

Just ask Finder he knows how to do it :)

tell application "Finder"
     set parentpath to POSIX path of (parent of (path to me) as string)
     set filename to name of (path to me)

     display dialog parentpath
     display dialog filename
 end tell


There are only two causes of repeated I/O errors:

A logical failure of the drive due to a corrupted Filesystem
A physical failure of either the drive or a periphery component (connecting cable).

S.M.A.R.T. Status is not a reliable indicator for drive failure and is prone to false negatives.  Remember, it’s a firmware function built-in to a drive checking itself.

Steps:

Boot into recovery mode. Use the repair disk function of Disk Utility to check the boot volume (disk0s2) from your recovery partition.
Use third party software such as Techtool Pro to scan for bad blocks on your HDD.

Best bet:

Here is your machine. More than likely, it’s a hardware issue. Specifically, either your drive is failing or the PATA cable is failing. The Apple Hardware Test, even if you were to access, does not test your HDD’s integrity. It would test, however, the input cable to the logic board (the PATA cable) - this is a much cheaper fix.

Bottom line: You can’t troubleshoot a hardware issue. Backup your data while the drive is still alive. Get a definitive diagnosis from Apple free of charge, and proceed from there.  Once you know exactly what the issue is, decide whether you want to get the HDD/cable replaced by Apple, use a DIY option for a cheaper price, or purchase a new machine entirely.

BOL.


Apple ID password compromised - 2FA rescued - What next?

You can ask for account data on https://privacy.apple.com and see if there is any active login. I don't remember if successful are counted only, or all.

Uncheck all irrelevant boxes and you'll soon get the email about data availability.

  Your Apple ID account details and sign-in records.
  Records of your Apple retail store and support transactions.

etc can be accessed. Source

Related write-ups

Does apple automatically sign out all connected devices when you change the apple id password?
Does someone know my (old) Apple ID password?
If you think your Apple ID has been compromised Apple Support. however, this doesn't address the intermediate case of failed login.
Two-factor authentication for Apple ID This mentions one more point of trusted phone numbers. Verification code could have been sent to a phone number too. So check your trusted phone numbers. They can be checked in  Settings > [your name] > Password & Security.

Personal notes:

A failed 2FA is an indicator of failed login, thus as far as I can think, no other device has the login. Only trusted devices can log-in directly without 2FA code. If either your trusted devices or trusted phone numbers are physically captured, they can be used to log-in. Keychain items are visible only on devices, not on web. For iOS, in Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Website & App Passwords.
For Mac, in Keychain access.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203783#stored


Deleted Files not going to Trash, Catalina

Sometimes the invisible user trash folder in your home folder gets the wrong permissions set (for unclear reason).

Usually the trash can looks like this viewed in Terminal/ls -la

drwx------   3 user  staff     96 23 Nov 19:13 .Trash

I had several similar incidents and the folder looks like this then:

d---------   3 -     -         96 23 Nov 19:13 .Trash

To get back the normal behaviour open the Terminal in /Applications/Utilities and enter:

ls -la ~/

to get a list of the content of your user folder (the .Trash should be listed as well). Execute the typed command by hitting the return key. Check the content of the folder whether it really is your folder.

To remove the broken trash folder enter:

sudo rm -d ~/.Trash

You have to have an account with admin prvileges to execute a sudo command.

Exit the shell by entering exit and quit Terminal.

In the Finder simply create a new folder and move it to the trash. This will create a new .Trash folder with proper privs and move the new folder made previously to the trash can.


Skype notifications disappear while there are unread messages, on iPhone

Try going into your Skype settings (the settings app, not the Skype app) and scroll down until you see Skype, then click on Skype and check if Skype notifications are on.


Which size is the smallest HD that I can use to install Snow leopard?

Snow Leopard requires about 5 GB of space to install itself and will run with not much more space than that total in most cases.

Installing on a low capacity flash drive (USB storage) is possible, but very slow since the chips there are optimized for low power and react far, far slower than even a basic, bargain basement spindle hard drive.


Is there a Mac OS X Command Line application that can convert text encodings from one type to another? (Specifically to convert Mac OS Roman to utf8)

iconv is definitively the tool of choice here:

iconv -f MACROMAN -t UTF-8 your-roman-encoded-file.txt > utf-8-encoded-file.txt

Run iconv --list to see a list of all supported encodings.


As far as I remember (AFAIR), no extra software is required to rip audio CDs lossless in Mac OS 9. You can simply open the CD and use the Finder to copy the music files to the hard disk.

The final data format is AIFF.

This probably won't work for copy protected audio CDs (non-Red Book).


Why does my iPhone 5c say it cannot take new photos even after I delete 100 or so?

Restore from a backup.

It looks like there are a lot of cached files on your phone that shouldn't be there. Usually restoring from a backup will clear all of this system trash as it only backs up personal information.

Note: an iTunes backup will be more complete and will contain a lot more app data than iCloud, so that is recommended if you are able to use iTunes.

iTunes (recommended)

Make an iTunes backup. Connect your phone to your computer, and open iTunes. Select Your iPhone (in the top bar) - Summary - Back Up Now.
Disable Find My iPhone. Go to Settings - Apple ID - iCloud - Find My iPhone and turn off the switch. You will have to enter your Apple ID password.

If you have forgotten your Apple ID password, go to iForgot

In iTunes, click Restore iPhone.
Wait for the restore to complete
In Setup Assistant, select that you'd like to restore from an iTunes backup and follow the directions from there.

iCloud

Make an iCloud Backup. Go to Settings - Apple ID (big thing with your name at the top) - iCloud - iCloud Backup - Back Up Now
Disable Find My iPhone. Go to Settings - Apple ID - iCloud - Find My iPhone and turn off the switch. You will have to enter your Apple ID password.

If you have forgotten your Apple ID password, go to iForgot

Wipe your phone. Go to Settings - General - Reset - Erase All Content and Settings.
Wait for your phone to do a full wipe.
In Setup Assistant, select that you'd like to restore from an iCloud backup. Choose your desired iCloud backup.

That's it! See if it worked.


Mail.app: How to use multiple From: addresses for the same Gmail account?

In Mail 9 (el capitan) this is done by adding the new address as an "Alias" in the Preferences.

Mail > Preference > Accounts tab > Account information tab. Above the "Email address" Field you will see "Alias". Click, and click "edit Alias". Click the plus (+) icon on the bottom left, and add the email address and name.

Of course the address must be properly set up and authorised as an extra account in the Gmail interface itself first.

Gmail > Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as. Treat as alias must be on (checked).


Replace optical drive with hard drive in mid 2012 non-retina MacBook Pro

I have heard of certain WD drives having hardware aggressive power saving features where the drive will shut down after a rather short period of inactivity. Worse, it doesn't tell the OS that it's doing so, so you get into a 'wait race' where the drive is waiting to be told to spin up, and the controller is waiting for the drive to signal 'ready'.

This usually isn't a problem if the computer shuts down the drive to save power:  It then knows that the drive isn't ready, and sends the appropriate startup.

Try asking with more detail:  Drive, kit, etc.


macOS Big Sur - Set quick look provider for specific file types?

AFAIK, the default app for opening documents and the QuickLook generator for previewing them are two completely separate things.
If you have a QuickLook generator file for the .md format, then that will be used by the QL manager.
The Terminal command qlmanage provides a way to get the status of the QL manager, and to configure it in a limited way.
> qlmanage -m | grep "md"
  com.unknown.md -> /Users/Ben/Library/QuickLook/QLMarkdown.qlgenerator (1.3.3)

You can force which QL generator is used with
qlmanage -g /path/to/generator/


How to autoprocess screenshots with an optimizer such as ImageOptim and then place immediately back in pasteboard (clipboard) for paste?

I don't want to take the time now to actually do it, so I'll just point you in the directions I would take. If better answers become available, we can just delete this one :-)

There are two region capturing methods native to the Mac, one saves the file (Desktop by default, but can be anywhere) and one just puts it in your clipboard (some temp file somewhere most likely). You can change the shortcuts, file type and more... some through Preferences, some (file type) through command line in Terminal.

For example, swith the file format with defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg...

To process a region snap and get it back into clipboard:

You can do this with Alfred. You may need to save the file instead of just using the clipboard. (AUtomatically Save it to disc, process with compression of your choice (there's even imageoptim Alfred workflow) and put it back into your clipboard with some notification that it's done.)
You could start with these Workflows probably and modify them...

https://github.com/ginfuru/alfred-screen-capture
https://github.com/ramiroaraujo/alfred-screencapture-enhancer-workflow
https://github.com/ramiroaraujo/alfred-image-optim-workflow

You can do the same thing with Keyboard Maestro if that's more of your jam.
You may be able to do it with Automator, but I'm not sure about that.


Open general, swipe up on the right side, find Profiles & Device Management and tap it.

Tap each of the profiles in turn and delete them. The MDM profile should show "Remove Management" in red and explain what it will do. The others should say "Delete Profile"

When that's done, you should have a clean device that you could erase all content and settings. Then see that the device isn't tied to a corporate Device Enrollment system. In that case, you'd want to return the iPad or get a bill of sale indicating that the device will be released from "corporate" control in a period of time.

The DEP can be under education or business - so the steps they take will be similar to release that serial number and not re-enroll it in the MDM each time the device is configured/activated.

https://www.apple.com/business/dep/


Run Script on Logout Without Use of Logout Hook

It seems that Apple isn't interested in a logout hook replacement, as they closed my issue inquiring about one.

However, one of the improvements in Yosemite is that launchd now properly sends signals down to shell scripts. What this means is that you can now do a log-out task like so:

Here's an example logout.sh:

#!/bin/sh
onLogout() {
    echo 'Logging out' >> ~/Logs/logout.sh.log
    exit
}

trap 'onLogout' SIGINT SIGHUP SIGTERM
while true; do
    sleep 86400 &
    wait $!
done

This will simply sleep (asynchronously, doing it synchronously without the ampersand doesn't seem to work) until it receives one of the trapped signals, at which point it will execute the onLogout function.

All you need to do is launch that script using a RunAtLoad launch agent or launch daemon and it will run at log-out or shutdown, though it's important to bear in mind that tasks only have a limited amount of time to complete before they are killed instead, so this shouldn't be used to run anything that takes a long time, or requires a network connection that could be delayed etc.

Of course this is of no use to anyone on Mavericks or earlier, but under Yosemite this now seems to work as expected; so I was actually doing it right in the first place, launchd just wasn't sending the signals properly :)

NOTE: For this to work the shell scripts seems to need to be executed directly by launched, i.e - it shouldn't invoked via sh. So if it were placed in ~/Library/Scripts/foo.sh your program arguments might look like:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>~/Library/Scripts/foo.sh</string>
    <string>bar</string>
</array>
<key>EnableGlobbing</key>
<true/>


Boot straight to an Application when Mac is turned on

See This Apple Tech Note on creating a kiosk type UI in OS X. Be careful you configure a way to boot normally, in case of mis-configuration, application starts hanging, etc.


Try CNTLM to convert your NTLM proxy to a local proxy without authentication. In this way iTunes is able to connect to the internet.


Can 2013 MacBook Air output to 2560x1080?

I believe the problem is your HDMI cable - it's not capable of displaying a resolution of 2560x1080.  In other words, it's pre-HDMI 1.4 specification.  (Also, the link provided to the cable in the original question is out of date; it's no longer available).

Per Apple Support, the 2013 MacBook Air (11" and 13" model) has a Thunderbolt port which also supports mini Display Port.

Since the HDMI cable referenced in the original question is 4K capable (HDMI v1.4 specification), the cable is not the issue.  What wasn't mentioned was the HDMI adapter. I believe this component to be the "weak link" in this chain because if the mDP to HDMI adapter isn't 4K capable, nothing else will matter.

I recommend getting an active mDP to HDMI adapter (rather than passive) and then connecting your HDMI (v1.4 or above) cable from the adapter to the TV.

That said, I would only recommend this solution for this particular setup, because the LG monitor 29UM57-P only supports HDMI connections.

Ideally, you would want to use mDP to either mDP or DP connections rather than convert to HDMI, DVI, etc., to get the most reliable connection(s).  Less conversions means less points of potential failure.


What do you think about Apple's Ping service?

Primarily, I don't understand the purpose.  I don't know a single person in the world whose musical taste I trust, or that I think is similar to mine.  I've seen last.fm, facebook, twitter, etc., and they've taught me to ignore musical recommendations.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a New Yorker article about how social network links have so little value because they're so easy.  I might get 50 musical recommendations on facebook this week, and I'd only have to click twice to listen, and I'm not going to listen to any of them.  But when the guy who lives next door hears me listening to Brahms, and stops in and says "You might like this other thing too!", and brings me a CD, I'll put it in my stereo and listen to it 2 or 3 times.

Second, the interesting music I'd want to share is largely not on iTunes.  It's the bootleg of some Asian singer whose recording you can't get here yet (and maybe never).  It's the Youtube video of some guy you kind of know playing at a club downtown last week.  It's the out-of-print-for-40-years LP on my shelf of an incredible and rare recording of a popular group, that I got at a garage sale once for $4.  It's the MP3 preview that some up-and-coming composer dropped on his blog to show you what he's doing.

Like everything Apple seems to do these days, Ping is probably great if you only care about recent mainstream name-brand consumer goods.  (Lady Gaga at the announcement!)  From a couple of longhairs who started out selling devices to let you make phone calls without paying, Apple has really turned into a company that doesn't care for the fringe -- even the legal fringe.

Third, it's part of iTunes.  Back in 2003, I thought iTunes was awesome.  These days, it's got so much crap in it, I don't even know how to do all the things I used to know how to do.  It's confusing and frustrating and I use it as little as possible -- only for feeding my iPod, for things that can't be loaded directly.  (iPods have gotten a lot more complex and confusing since 2003, too, but there's pretty much no competition in this space.)  So Ping would have to be pretty awesome for me to want to use iTunes more than once every couple weeks, and it's not.

So if I wanted to do something that I don't, but can do already in better ways, but now do it in an app I hate instead of on the web ... I guess Ping would be for me.

You know what would be a better thing to put in iTunes, since apparently it's no longer just about "tunes"?  Recipes!  I need to keep track of them somewhere, and iTunes might be better than a bunch of text files.  Plus, I actually do trust food recommendations from friends, so Ping-for-Recipes would actually be worth something to me.


MacBook going into blank screen after Apple Logo

It's possible that something in the OS got corrupted. Boot into recovery mode (hold ⌘-R on boot for those who don't know) and select the option to Reinstall OSX. It won't touch your user files or applications; it just lays down a new copy of the OS, which will likely fix your issue. You may need to explicitly connect it to your wifi/ethernet to do this. Good luck!
Cheers,
-j


Which iPhone 5 models are compatible with cellular carriers around the globe?

The tech specs page lists the available network features per model in more detail.

GSM model A1428: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 4 and 17)
CDMA model A1429: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
GSM model A1429: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)

In short, the two biggest differences are the CDMA vs. the GSM models. Depending on what you get, you won't even be able to do voice calls on the other type of network.
Across the two different models with GSM antennas, it appears that the same frequencies for everything but LTE are supported, so you are likely to get 3G and GPRS support across all GSM networks if the carrier supports it.


What does the 2 temperatures mean in the Weather app?

That's the day's forcasted high and low temperature


I updated my iPad Air to iOS 8 and keychain not working correctly

Since iOS is a sandbox I do not know of any tools to help reset the keychain and download it again with out resetting all settings. Do you have the iCloud Keychain running, is it backed up via iCloud? If so then trying to reinstall your iCloud data back may fix the issue. Start by going to Setting> General>Reset reset all settings. If this does not work try  erase all content and settings and restore from and iCloud backup. If you are still acing issues the try a  full erase of the iOS and your data. Then restore from an iCloud backup.


CCC reporting physical problem with a drive volume even though the drive is working

In the end, I settled with Disk Utility. I know that CCC is typically faster since it copies in chunks but my goal was to create a one-time archive of an OS and then clone it to other drives whenever necessary so the benefit of CCC is less noticeable.

I found a forum post on Apple's forum about an issue that seemed similar or possibly the same. The accepted answer to that post suggested the older version of CCC was looking for mach_kernel files in the wrong place on the drive. Apparently, Yosemite and later now keep those files in a different location. Those particular kernel files are crucial to the boot process and the computer will not detect the clone partition as bootable unless those files are there. This explanation might explain my troubles since I'm using CCC 3.5.7 (unsupported) on Lion and the operating systems I was trying to image were High Sierra and El Capitan. Unfortunately, that forum post is lost in my browser history.

I never did try a new version of CCC because my early 2008 MacBook is incapable of running anything newer and I don't really have access to a newer Mac at the moment. I reverted to using disk utility which worked quite well. I created a read-only disk image and then, when I want to clone, mount the disk image and create a restore from the mounted image to the partition on the target hard disk.

Running Lion 10.7.5 on an early 2008 MacBook. CCC version 3.5.7.


Unable to resize windows on split full screen in MacOS Mojave when using external monitor

WORKAROUND:
Read somewhere that to get (temporarily) the resizing bar, you drag one of the split windows by the title to the other side of the monitor. The bar will remain for a while. Resize, and if needed, switch back the windows. It has been working for me on an external LG monitor in Mojave.


Will my invitation only app be approved on the appstore?

I expect that they won't be accepted. You'd need to invite the approver(s) at Apple so they can use and check your app, for starters, and, in any case, this is what Ad-Hoc distribution and beta testers are for, as @Jason mentioned.


Battery not charging at only 35 cycles - recoverable?

The battery is showing at 35 cycles but not holding any charge whatsoever. I presume it's been sat on a shelf for some period of time and has drained, but I can't imagine that it's actually dead at only 35 cycles.

There's a number of things that can be at play here:

Bad charging circuitry.  The battery is actually good, but power isn't getting to the battery itself.
A defective battery.  It happens; these are "man-made" items and far from perfect.

Won't charge at all
Won't hold a charge.  Charges but dissipates quickly (as you describe).  This is due to a bad cell.
Reduced charging capacity

Wrong charger.  It's entirely possible you got a charger with too low a wattage rating.

Given that you've stated it won't hold a charge, it's likely a defective battery.  Pretty much the only thing you can do is reset the SMC.  The NVRAM has nothing to do with power issues and reinstalling macOS should only be used as a last resort.

However since this is a new purchase, your best option is to return it rather than try to fix it.  It came to you with an issue - the seller should deal with it and it doesn't speak highly to their quality controls.  Don't be discourage that you can't fix it, because, technically, you can:  replace the battery.  It's just that (IMO) you shouldn't have to unless it was listed as having this condition.


Can macOS Mojave run 64-bit version of Adobe CS6?

As noted in this answer, you should be able to run Adobe CS6 in macOS Mojave 10.14.

Another user shared their experience here and was able to use CS6 fine.


My Mac is getting really slow, what should I do?

I'm going on the assumption that you have a MacBook Pro Early 2011. There were no MacBook Airs with that designation and MacBooks stopped production in 2010 and resumed again in 2015.

It would still be helpful to know what specific model you had, however.

It came (usually) with 4GB of RAM, 320GB (spinning, 5400 RPM) hard drive. That's not anywhere "fast" by today's standards.

Here's what I recommend:

Max Out Your Memory.

The max you can put on this is 16GB of RAM.  You can use any of these 16GB kits (2 8GB SODIMMS) or go for this one by Crucial.  I have used this brand in 2 iMacs and 4 MacBook Pros with zero issues.  The iMac I am typing on right now has 32 GB and I can't tell you how much a difference it has made over the 4GB that came with it.

Upgrade to an SSD

Your 5400 RPM drive is slow.  They picked 5400 RPM over the faster 7200 RPM for one reason and one reason only - battery life.  Adding an SSD will not only give you tremendous speed, but also longer battery life.  I upgraded my iMac just two weeks ago from the 1TB Fusion drive to a 1TB SSD and this thing not only runs quieter, but faster as well.

I am partial to Samsung as they have never failed me in the past.  This is the Samsung 1TB SSD I purchased to replace my failing fusion drive

Swap out your DVD Drive for Another HDD (Optional)

While you are replacing drives, if your old 5400 Drive is still good, you can use it as a second drive for data, music, pictures;  create your own Fusion Drive or best yet, have an internal drive for super fast Time Machine Backups.

There is a universal optical bay hard drive conversion kit that you can use to install another HDD/SSD in its place.  I have used two of these already, one in a MacBook Pro and the other in a Dell Optiplex 745.  At under $15, it is a super cheap option to add.

How to Install all this "Stuff"

To do any of these upgrades, you will need to remove the back cover.  It's only 10 Phillips screws:

Once you're in, you can replace the drive:

or the memory:

and even install the optical bay kit:

You can get tutorials on how to do this from http://ifixit.com which is where I sourced all these great photos.

Last but not Least

You will want to make a Time Machine backup of your computer.  It will be the easiest way to transfer all your files and settings.  Personally, I like to start with a nice clean slate and just move over data.  Applications I like to re-install.  I have found that my computers are much more stable when doing clean installs rather than restoration of previously installed software.


How can I copy the drivers provided by Apple when installing Bootcamp on an external drive?

The dism command you are referring to was originally posted as part of this answer. Colin William posted 2 responses which explain how and when to use a Windows laptop to execute the command.
I originally posted that the dism command should be executed while running in the virtual machine. However, after reading Colin William's posts, I decided for this answer to build on his experience and post how to use the dism command after shutting down the virtual machine. The steps are given below.

Julius Pargac's procedure calls for copying the Window Support Software to a MS-DOS (FAT) formatted 4 GB or larger flash drive. Instead, use a ExFAT formatted 16 GB or larger flash drive. Additionally, copy all the files from the Windows 10 ISO to this flash drive. The result should appear similar to what is shown below.

Proceed with Julius Pargac's procedure until after you have closed VirtualBox. This is immediately after you have manually shutdown the virtual machine.

Eject and unplug the external drive where windows is installed. Plug in the flash drive. Restart the Mac and immediately hold down the option key until the Mac Startup Manager icons appear. Select the external drive icon labeled EFI Boot.

The first window to appear should be similar to the one shown below.

Proceed as one would for a GUI installation of Windows. When a window similar to the one shown below appears, press the shift+F10 key combination.

The result should be the appearance of the Command Prompt window shown below.

Plug in the external drive where Windows is installed.

Enter the command given below. This will list the volumes.
echo list volume | diskpart

From the output, determine the drive letters for the flash drive and the external drive where Windows is installed. I found letter C: for the flash drive and letter D: for the external drive where Windows is installed. If you have different drive letters, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the command given below. This command copies the Windows Support Software drivers to the Windows 10 drivers store.
dism /image:d:\ /add-driver /driver:c:\$WinPEDriver$ /recurse /forceunsigned

Note: If a driver meant to be installed after Windows has finished installing, then an error message will be displayed. You can ignore such messages.

When finished, close the Command Prompt window and the Activate Windows window. If prompted, select the Yes button. The Mac should reboot to macOS.

After booting to macOS, eject and remove the flash drive. Proceed from where you left off in Julius Pargac's procedure.

I do not have a MacBook Pro with a T2 chip to test the above steps. If you have problems, then post a comment and/or update your question.


How to import iPhone videos into Instagram without distortion?

I know that Instagram doesn't allow video cropping at the moment. Nor can you change the Camera app's aspect ratio. I suggest either recording inside Instagram or changing your phone's recording position to landscape.


Installing just Pages 09 from old iWork 09 Disk on Yosemite

The simplest solution would be to install it all, and then delete Numbers and Keynote from the iWork 09 folder.

For a brief time, I believe Pages 09 was offered in the Mac app store as a stand-alone program.  If you have that version on an old backup, that would be one other option.  The disc installer cannot be easily modified; and, it puts several files in /Library/Application Support/ and maybe other locations so copying just the Pages.app from your other computer is not a viable option.


Completely recover space from sparse bundle when "hdiutil compact" is not enough

Either recreate the image, or defragment and repeat hdiutil compact. For defragmentation, I use iDefrag.


Lion: Safari brings me to the Googlesearch window when I want to go to next tab via keyboard, what can I do?

Jump to next tab:

⌘+Shift+[

Jump to previous tab:

⌘+Shift+]

Shortcuts tested on Mac OS 10.6.5 with Safari 5.0.3 on MacBook Pro.  Should still apply in Lion with 5.1


What software can turn off Wi-Fi automatically when closing lid?

You could combine DFGKApps's script for turning off Wifi and DssW's Power Manager to run the script on sleep.

The Terminal.app command to disable WiFi appears to be:

 networksetup -setairportpower en1 off

To re-enable WiFi use:

networksetup -setairportpower en1 on

Be sure to test these commands using Terminal.app, as I suspect they may require tweaking depending on your network set up.

Be aware that running a script on sleep does come with limitations. The time available for the script is short and can not be extended.

I am a software engineer involved with Power Manager, so feel free to ask technical questions about how to use it.


Some apps I'm finding only on iTunes, isn't there a way to buy in directly on my iPhone/iPod touch?

It is very likely that the iTunes store in your country (Brazil after your profile) does not have all the apps from the US AppStore. Developers can choose if they want to make their app available in all or just some countries. Since the website of Apple shows the content of the US AppStore by default it might have led you to believe that you can buy the app with your account.


I think you need to make the menu item "Clear History and Website Data…", not "Clear History and Website Data..." (a single ellipses character: "…" vs. three periods: "..."

I didn't test the whole script, but this change brought the menu item up in Safari for me via AppleScript.


How to list bluetooth devices from command line

Simply typing in:
blued

bluetoothd (Mojave or newer)

Will return a list of paired devices according to to the link key. I don't know how to have it exit cleanly, so to return to the prompt you will need to press Control+c


diskutil coreStorage in Lion fails to create a concatenated LVG, error -69886

Operating system

Can you reproduce the problem with Mac OS X 10.7.5?

If -69886 arises from a failure to unmount

Expanding upon a hint in an answer to a linked question, try this before the Core Storage operation … for the device that apparently can't be added:

diskutil unmount /dev/disk2s2

– then if the unmount fails, to discover what's open:

sudo lsof /dev/disk2s2

Reference

Currently limited by Apple to Mac OS X 10.7.4: diskutil(8) OS X Manual Page


Is there a web browser for iOS that will allow me to change the user agent?

A list of iOS browsers which allow user agent switching:

iCab Mobile ($1.99)
Sleipnir Mobile (Free)
Web Captain ($2.99)
Lunascape (Free)


How to suppress the “OS X Spotlight search information was removed” warning?

Simply save the document and you will be asked if you want to upgrade. Click "Agree" and the next time you open the document there will no longer be any warning.


Why is zeroing out a drive with dd not working?

The error makes sense, since it tries to write zeroes to the microSD card until it runs out of space.

You've misread the error.
gdd: error writing '/dev/rdisk2': Input/output error

That means there was an error writing to the device.  The command you issued should do what you want - fill the drive with zeros, but this error says otherwise.

What doesn't make sense to me is that as soon as the gdd process is done running, Disk Utility shows the SD card as "boot" again, it automounts at /Volumes/boot, and the files are still there. How is it that gdd shows that it successfully wrote the entire SD card full of zeros, and yet the data is still there?

gdd did no such thing!  It gave you an I/O error message when it was writing to the device.  Your original files are there because nothing was written to the SD card.
Possible causes:

The card could be write protected
The card could be defective (especially if counterfeit - i.e. it reports 16GB but only has 2GB of actual storage)
The USB card reader could be defective


As an indie developer, what do I put in the contact section of the "Agreements, Tax, and Banking" in iTunes connect?

I just put myself. I'm a student and the sole person with any responsibility for the apps on the account, so I simply put myself. I had no issues with this.


How can I enable fingerprint authentication on a Mac? What compatible scanners are available?

Yes - you will want to start with the Smart Card services source code or compiled installer that Apple publishes and then pick whatever device you like that integrates to this infrastructure.

Here is Apple's starting point and a few more links that may help you in your search for a biometric authentication solution:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10872
http://www.cac.mil/common-access-card/managing-your-cac/
https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/smartcard/owa/ShowPage?p=faqusers#fingerdeers
http://www.cacsecurity.com/biometrics.asp


The general consensus is that any operating systems after Mojave break compatibility with Mini DV or they're not as reliable as older versions of Mac OS. LifeFlix is in active development, and it even works with the new M1 chip.
Alternatively, if you have access to a Mac with Mojave or earlier, or you can boot the Macbook Pro off a portable SSD running Mojave, you can use Apple's AVCVideoCap: https://www.cuttingcords.com/s/AVCVideoCap.zip


Splice a 45W MagSafe 2 connector onto an 85W PSU?

The price difference between Apple's 85W and 45W power adapters has always been very small, which one could assume means that they probably use the same high quality components (wiring and connector) for both, with the only difference being the size and output of the adapter. This also makes sense from a manufacturing perspective, but naturally we will never know for sure unless we get a statement from Apple about it (which, of course, we can assume we won't).

Considering the above, I certainly think what you're asking might be possible with the right amount of skill, but the question you need to ask yourself is if it's worth saving a few bucks for a very likely fire hazard in your home (or wherever you would use the adapter).


Numbers : sum if tick-box on next column is true

Ok I believe I found the answer
it's seems a simple than this :
SUMIF(C, FALSE, B) (C for checkbox and B for currency)
Obviously False when I want to calculate when the tick-box are not ticked and true otherwise


Apple RAM for MacBook Pro vs other brands

I have also used Crucial memory in my MacBook Pros and have never had an issue with it.

Apple's support doc gives the memory specs to match against and does not require "Apple" RAM.


System Prefs > Accessibility > Display > Reduce Transparency.

You can search it with 'reduce'.


Once you do a reinstallation wipe of a Mac all data, including apps (even Apple ones) are deleted. So, unfortunately it seems like you'll have to buy GarageBand (it came with your Mac the first time, right? You didn't buy it separately, did you?). It sounds like you can redownload iMovie, and iPhoto was replaced by Photos (free from Mac App Store).


HTML / CSS / Javascript editor for the iPad?

I think the best one out there is called Textastic. It supports FTP, DropBox and WebDav and has a keyboard geared for editing code. It also has syntax highlighting.


Is there some way for me to connect old technology to airplay?

There is no external hardware to use airplay, if your aim is specifically to connect your MBP to AppleTV through AirPlay I think you are out of luck. There may be very tricky ways of doing this, although much of the encoding used in AirPlay is done by hardware(I believe Intel chip) that your laptop doesn't have (as far as I know).

There are other options though for wirelessly connecting your laptop to a screen, but thats out of scope I guess.


Can I clone my Time Machine backups folder to an image file, to essentially backup the entire Time Machine?

The answer is yes and the tool I would use for this task is Disk Utility.

You can use the File menu to select New Disk Image from Folder… and choose only the Backups.backupdb folder as the source of the image.

You can start and see how it works, but I wanted to add some commentary as well since you already are seeing difficulties with other utilities explicitly not wanting any part of cloning Time Machine data.

Since this folder contains hard links, if you don't choose a tool that respects hard links, you will end up with individual copies of each file and not the efficient storage that Time Machine uses.

For network use, you might choose a sparse disk image format which will be easier to copy to S3 and not lose the entire file if the transfer aborts in the middle.

If I were you, I'd perhaps pick important backup intervals and only move those to the offsite storage, but networks are fast enough that you could push an entire backup set to the cloud if you didn't mind paying the data transfer costs and waiting for the upload to be written to S3.


How to create a list with checkboxes in Automator?

Not with Automator

This is not possible using only Automator and an Open Scripting Architecture (OSA) language. Automator is not intended to present arbitrary user interfaces.

Alternatives

An alternative approach would be to create an Objective-C/AppleScript application, or a local web page and JavaScript.

There appear to be third party tools, such as Dialog Maker, that may help.


How can I stop macOS re-installing default apps and data I've previously deleted when I update the OS?

When removing "parts of the operating system" any update you get through the software update mechanism (AppStore) will re-install these apps and processes. Well, at least partially. Even so called ComboUpdaters were in fact delta updates relying on some previously installed base for many of the components supposedly contained in the ComboUpdater in full.

This results in a problem for those wishing to customise their installation: after removing parts Apple assumes are present some parts will only look like they are fully re-installed when in fact they are now 'present' but broken. This is what was experienced in the question when supposedly re-installed apps are now greyed out.

That leaves the customiser a couple of options:

Leave the system in an Apple authorised state. This has to be decided on from the start, though. ComboUpdaters are no longer a reliable way to 'repair' such a state back into working condition and most backups from an extremist-customised system will be tainted. A re-installation might be in order to get back into that state.
Download the standalone updaters from Apple, while that's still possible. This is the usage/how-to request in the question. But it is a tough choice: In case of the macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 update that would be here. You might then use a  manual installation of individual parts of the updater package(s). This might be done with a programme like Pacifist. But this process is very time consuming, and error prone, at least. If there are firmware updates or some undocumented non-obvious scripts to be applied in this update this procedure reaches quickly its limits and it might even be almost impossible to replicate what the updater did. Errors will very likely accumulate along the way.
Re-delete or re-disable everything you previously disabled (that means you should prepare at least a script for that). This is clearly the best option if you start updating from a non-Apple approved state of system manipulation. If Chess and iCloud were useless before they are useless now, in their (half or cmpleely) broken state. Note that this answer does not discuss any SIP related issues, since that has be a non issue in the scenario given anyway. This adds just one additional step of after update maintenance.


Display glitches on a MBPro 15 inch Late 2013 (base model) (video)

You may have one of the Macbook Pros with an acknowledged video issue - unfortunately the free repair program ended long ago. Apple used to have a page where you could check if your model was affected, but it is long gone.
There's some info on https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/macbook-problems-recalls-3699153/
A 2013 model is probably not worth paying to repair these days. The product is listed as Vintage, so Apple would probably repair it, but at cost.
There's a list of Vintage & Obsolete Macs here - Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty
You could try running hardware diagnostics - Hold D at boot - & see what is reported.


How Do You Launch The Finder Process in Terminal

Simple:

open /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app


It's possible that Wi-Fi service is disabled in your system, check by:

sudo networksetup -listallnetworkservices

If you see an asterisk (*) next to your WiFi, that means the service is disabled. Enable it by:

networksetup -setnetworkserviceenabled WiFi on
networksetup -setairportpower en0 on

Same for any other network services which are disabled. See also this post and this post.

Then restart your system to start these services at startup.


If the drive is completely empty & doesn't even have a recovery partition, then the Mac will automatically go to Internet Recovery if you hold  Cmd ⌘   R  at boot.

To prevent this, hold the  Opt ⌥  key at the chimes & choose your Time Machine volume to boot from. You should then find the option to Restore from Time Machine Backup.


How to determine the specific rule Mail App used to move a given message?

2 ways I can think of, neither particularly 'fun'

The 'one rule' method

Disable all rules bar one
put the 'mistreated' email back in the inbox
Run the single rule
see if it moves the email
rinse & repeat

the 'sounds' method

Add a new line to each existing rule - Play Sound
repeat for each rule, using a different sound
move the email back to the inbox & Apply Rules

a late posible 3rd… eliminate by halves [based on 1, but better for a large number of rules]
but this requires that no rule will halt the entire process with "Stop evaluating rules".

Add a rule halfway down the list that will play a sound if it processes that far.
test by halves, disabling rules & moving the sound to the 'silent' half each time


Is it possible to include a shared calender from Exchange in the calendar app on Mac OS X?

The above doesnt' REALLY work for people, especially not with Outlook 365. Here's the way that worked for me:

With iCal open go to the menu bar at the top of the screen and select iCal, it's to the right of the Apple Symbol in the upper left corner.
Select Preferences
Once the Preferences window comes up select the Accounts section then select the Exchange account to bring up its information.
Now select the Delegation tab.
Under the list is a + sign. Click this to add a calendar.
Begin typing the user's name as above and the auto-completion will begin. Once you've found the correct user's name select it to add it under the Users column.
Under Accounts I can access: you will now see that user's name. You can enable or disable their calendar from displaying by checking or unchecking the boxes under the Show header.

I found these instructions from the USC website.


You are on the correct track to make specific benchmarks and time them.
So if you have “open system preferences” you can repeat it. If it takes 30 seconds to open 5 times in a row, you could run some tests to see if it’s network or disk or CPU that’s constraining it.
If it speeds up the second and third times, then it’s a different issue.
Can you reproduce this in a new user account on the Mac with no startup items?
Either way, using the first two Activity Monitor functions to end high CPU use processes and see overall energy use should out any apps causing a slowdown. Also, do you need more ram?

https://support.apple.com/guide/activity-monitor/welcome/mac


I find Spaces to be a very useful way to allow me to focus on specific activities without getting distracted. It's hardly a perfect feature, and I struggle with the strange Spaces bugs, too. But I've been tweaking my setup for a while now and it really works for me.

First, let's talk about the configuration. My approach is similar to mankoff's. I have a total of 9 Spaces and that seems to be the right number for me. I also assign apps to specific Spaces based on the kinds of activities I do there.

Here's how I've set up my 9 Spaces:

Space 1: GTD (OmniFocus, Livescribe)
Space 2: Email + Calendar (Mail, iCal, Google Voice Fluid Window)
Space 3: Photos (Aperture)
Space 4: Reading (Safari, Chrome for my daily RSS catchup)
Space 5: Music (iTunes)
Space 6: Social Networking (Twitter, mostly, but I often do all of my social networking reviews in a quick 20-minute session and will open some browser windows here to do it)
Space 7: Financial (Quicken Essentials, browser page for Xero.com, the online accounting service I use for my business)
Space 8: Utilities (1Password, CrashPlan, SuperDuper, etc.)
Space 9: Working (An empty space I leave for whatever I'm working on)

Some apps I set to be available across every space, such as Skype. Others, such as the Finder, Safari or Chrome, are not assigned at all, and can appear in whatever space is currently active.

To really make Spaces work for me, here are some of the things I do.

Use HyperSpaces. Hyperspaces is a fantastic utility that adds some of the features to Spaces that Apple should have built into the OS. There's lots of things it can do, but I use three things in particular. First, I use it to make every Space look different. I'm not a fan of distracting wallpaper, so I have chosen a simple background and then use Hyperspaces' ability to color them to apply a hue to each one. At a glance, I can see which Space I'm in. Green for Utilities, Purple for GTD, etc. I also name each Space and display it in the lower right corner of the desktop. I use the name from the list above. It's another simple visual clue as to where I am. The latest version can also show it in the Menu Bar icon, which is good, too, and has the benefit of not possibly being obscured by a window. Finally, I set the animation between Spaces to be very quick. I still like to have it on so I know I've switched a space, but I don't need a lot of fanfare when it happens, so I drag that slider way to the left.
Alfred. Alfred is an excellent app launcher that I've started using in the past year or so. Being able to quickly launch or switch to an app is what prevents you from having to search through your Spaces, and Alfred is key to that for me. There's nothing magical about Alfred here, though, so any launcher will do: QuickSilver, Launchbar, etc.
QuickSilver Triggers. Even though I use Alfred, I also run QuickSilver for the one thing Alfred cannot do: assign keyboard shortcuts to launch apps. QuickSilver calls them Triggers and I've set up a bunch. Without hunting through my Spaces, I can jump between Mail (trigger: ⌘OptionShiftM), iTunes (trigger: ⌘OptionShiftU) and Safari (trigger: ⌘OptionShiftS) in seconds.
Keyboard Shortcuts. ⌘1–9 switches between Spaces, and I use this all the time to move not only between Spaces, but since the frontmost app gets activated when the Space appears, it's often how I switch between apps, too.
Moving Windows. Sometimes a window will open inside the current Space, but I want it somewhere else. Happens all the time with Safari windows, for example. The fix is easy, though: just click and hold on the title bar of the window, then press the ⌘1–9 for the Space you want to move it to and zip, off it goes. Great way to keep your Spaces clean and clutter-free.

As I say up front, Spaces isn't perfect, but with some effort, I've managed to make it work for me. I hope that some of you find this helpful.


Pinyin input placed behind Hangouts window

You can disable the on top feature of that window.

  "Change settings that apply only for the Hangouts Chrome desktop app
  Click the Chrome launcher icon . If you're using Windows, you may see
  a window asking you to sign in to your Chrome browser. Sign in with
  your Google Account. Click the Hangouts Chrome desktop app . At the
  top of your Hangouts list, click settings . Choose one of the settings
  below to change. Keep in mind these settings only apply to the Chrome
  desktop app, not Hangouts in Gmail, Google+ or the Chrome extension.
  Start Hangouts app when Chrome starts: Check this box to start the
  Chrome desktop app whenever you start Chrome. Always on top: Check
  this box to see the Chrome desktop app on top of all other apps or
  browsers that you have open on your computer. Uncheck this box to undo
  the setting. Auto-hide conversations: Check this box to automatically
  minimize the conversation windows when you're not clicked in the
  actual chat window. Uncheck this box to undo the setting. Show message
  preview for new message: Check this box to show a preview of a new
  Hangout message. Uncheck this box to undo the setting."

https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6101837?hl=en


What's the difference between the three wireless antennas in MacBook Pros?

In general, WiFi uses the same antenna for both transmitting and receiving.

In general, multiple WiFi antennas are used to get higher capacity (i.e. higher bandwidth). For example a common setup is 3x3 MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) where 3 antennas are used to exploit multipath propagation in order to increase the bandwidth available.

In very rough terms the idea is that there's a limit to the data rate, you can send/receive at a certain frequency with the technology available. Instead of increasing the data rate, MIMO uses multiple antennas to send multiple data streams at the same time on the same frequency, but from different antennas.

The receiver can then through advanced signal processing seperate the three signals even though they're sent at the same frequency, because they arrive at the receiver in three different directions.

This idea makes it possible to reach higher data speeds over a 3 antenna link than one with just 1 antenna.

Regarding 2.4 Ghz vs. 5 Ghz - it is the case that some MacBook Pro models use one antenna for 2.4 Ghz and the two others for 5 Ghz. Other MacBook Pro models use all antennas for both frequencies.


Is a copy of /Library and ~/. sufficient for a clean install?

Yes, a copy of /Library and ~/. (which includes ~/Library) will retain most of your personalised settings. You may want to also include /Users/Shared as it is used by a few apps (e.g. from Adobe) to store licences and/or settings.
But the copy will include much of your clutter and history.  This will defeat the purpose of a 'clean' install.
A clean install requires you to erase the disk, reinstall macOS, reinstall applications and recover your documents, photos, etc. (but, sadly, not settings) from your backup.  This process will require you to enter application licenses and re-establish settings.
You need to judge whether the time and effort of a true clean install is worth it for you.
Personally, I do a clean install every 18 months or so - but that is because I am something of an app junkie.


Select the file in Finder, then get info (cmd-i), and change the file extension (under name and extension) to something that is not used by other files.

Then, near the bottom of the get info window click "Open With" and select the app you need, i.e. Adobe Acrobat, by browsing through your application list.  Then, at the bottom of that sub-pane click the 'change all' button.  This will direct Acrobat to open all files with the extension you chose.


I just did this yesterday, so it's still fresh in my mind. Make sure that when you restart your computer, you hold Cmd-R to enter recovery mode. Inside that, choose "Disk Utility" and there you can erase your Mac OSX partition.

If you do not do that and simply select "Reinstall Mac OS X", then it will not erase your drive, but just overwrite the parts that need to be overwritten.

Note that you will not be able to erase the Lion recovery partition this way. All options to modify this partition are disabled in Disk Utility. There is really no need to wipe this, and erasing and formatting the main partition should be sufficient.


Safety of "Apple"-branded iPhone chargers listed on Amazon vs. MFi-Certified alternatives

Apple Products

If you ever think of purchasing Apple branded products, your only safe place to make your purchases are Apple Stores or the Online Apple Store. If you prefer to make fast and safe purchases online, you can download the Apple Store App by Apple and make purchases there.

MFI Certified Products

When purchasing these non-Apple branded products you must pay attention.
If they're certified by Apple, you just need to find a brand you trust and make your purchases safely while saving some money as well!
I've purchased one MFi certified cable for my iPhone 6s as a second option, and I've encountered no issues so far. Then, yesterday, a friend of mine tried it as she needed to charge her iPhone 5s, and she had no problems at all either! MFi cables are a great bet. Some of the best and most reliable cables sold on Amazon are made by AmazonBasics and Anker (Anker makes a power adapter brick too).

In the end, you should always buy cables you are certain are genuine, because counterfeits are downright dangerous. If you need to purchase from Amazon, buy a high-rated MFi cable from the likes of AmazonBasics, Anker, or Sync-Wire. Otherwise, purchase a genuine Apple charger straight from the Apple Store. I would totally suggest you to try the Amazon route: you'll save a few dollars and you can easily get a refund if the cable goes bad quickly. And if you purchase a cable that's "genuine" and "made by Apple", you must buy it through the Apple Store.

If you're interested on the brand of the cable I bought (made by Sync-Wire), here's the link to the product, and you may find interesting to browse their website if you're curious about their products!


Unable to mount remote directory using SSHFS

Turns out it was just a case of RTFM. I needed to install the kernel extension too, like so:

sudo /bin/cp -RfX /usr/local/opt/osxfuse/Library/Filesystems/osxfusefs.fs /Library/Filesystems
sudo chmod +s /Library/Filesystems/osxfusefs.fs/Support/load_osxfusefs


“Cannot connect to the store” when trying to install games on iPod touch 1st Generation

Your device mode is classified as obsolete by Apple:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201624
“Some obsolete hardware products can no longer use the iTunes Store”
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208104


How can I copy MP3s from PC to iPhone (which isn't currently synced with the PC)?

The Music app needs to sync with iTunes on desktop. You can use any of the  file manager apps for iOS like Documents, transfer the MP3 files to your iPhone. The only limitation being that you'll be restricted to listening to them in the same (file manager) app and not with the Apple's Music app.


Sync apps preferences between multiple Macs

Open preferences and check the box marked "Load preferences from a customer folder or URL""

You can browse to your Dropbox folder and the click "Save Settings to Folder"


Delete iCloud account without removing photos

Backup pictures to your computer.
Log out and log in with your iCloud account.
Transfer pictures back to your iPhone.


What might cause a a dock icon to have pixellated noise?

It's likely the Finder's application icon is corrupted.

To check, navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/ and select Finder.app.  Get information on the file and see what the icon looks like.

I'm not sure where you can get a replacement icon (maybe another computer or the install disks with some package exploration).  I'd post mine here but for Apple's remarkably strict copyright lawyers.

--SOLUTION--

Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences and move the com.apple.dock.plist file to your desktop. This may result in your dock items needing to be reloaded. Logout and back in.


iPhone 5s. If you are connected to wifi at home and the wifi temporarily loses signal does the iPhone automatically switch back to cellular network?

This has changed since iOS 9 with Wi-Fi Assist

  With Wi-Fi Assist, you can stay connected to the Internet even if you have a poor Wi-Fi connection. For example, if you're using Safari with a poor Wi-Fi connection and a webpage doesn't load, Wi-Fi Assist will activate and automatically switch to cellular so that the webpage continues to load. You can use Wi-Fi Assist with most apps like Safari, Apple Music, Mail, Maps, and more.

Prior to iOS 9…
No, unfortunately not.

If the WiFi signal itself is still 'live' the iPhone doesn't check to see if it's actually connected to the outside world, unfortunately. It will just spin its wheels waiting for data that never arrives.

You need to switch it over manually.


Application tries to launch although it is deinstalled

The NetDrive2 installer creates a launch agent plist here: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.bdrive.NetDrive2.nd2svc.plist.

The file wasn't removed and is responsible for the log messages.

To get rid of the file first unload the agent with:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchAgents/com.bdrive.NetDrive2.nd2svc

Then remove the file with

sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.bdrive.NetDrive2.nd2svc.plist

Using the uninstaller in the mounted NetDriveInstaller_2_7_0_dev_262.dmg image instead of simply moving the app to the trash also removes the plist.


Mail doesn't really do out-of-office emails, because the application would have to be running to send a response. From Mail help:

  Mail must be running to automatically reply to messages, because rules aren’t processed while your computer is shut down or you’re logged out. To set up automatic replies while you’re on vacation, ask your email service provider how to set up an out-of-office reply.

So, as the above says, you'll have to work with your email service provider to set up an out-of-office response.
If you post and tell us who your email provider is, we can help you set that up.


Is it possible to copy and paste iCal events in iPad / iPhone?

Aside of using the duplicate and repeat there is no copy/paste function.

You can submit a request for the function at http://www.apple.com/feedback/


Is there a way to make Logitech side mouse buttons just be generic mouse buttons?

It turns out that if you uninstall or disable Logi Options in the System Preferences, then at least two of the side buttons on Logitech mice seem to appear as standard mouse events. I.e., Mouse Button 4 and Mouse Button 5.
Having Logi Options configured to do Input Monitoring in System Preferences, which is required for Logi Options to work, blocks apps from seeing Mouse Button 4 and Mouse Button 5 events. And Logi Options itself has no option to just let these events pass through Logi Options unmolested.


I did a software update & now I can't open Mail

Since you state Mail.app is already in the Applications folder, follow these additional steps:

Download Safari 5.1.7 for Snow Leopard
Reinstall the Mac OS X Update v10.6.8 Combo v1.1
Reinstall Safari 5.1.7 for Snow Leopard
Reinstall Security Update 2012-004