Ode to Apple

Well, ever since we upgrade to Leopard, we’ve been seeing that “security” warning that your File “is an application which was downloaded form the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” This happens every time after downloading a file and attempting to execute or un-archive it.

I’m sure that for most of us, we’re cautious enough to know what we downloaded and that we wanted to execute it without Leopard coming in between us and our prey. If you’re one of those, Hendrik have a solution on how you can Lift the Leopard download quarantine.
Read the article in full …

Here is one simple way to use the Mac OS X to keep you company with Date & Time while you work. In fact, this can also be one of your Getting Things Done tit-bits.

Set you clock to announce the time. This way, you will know the time passing by. This helps a lot when you’re so engrossed in work that you forgot to got up from your chair and cannot keep tract of time.
Read the article in full …

For all those Web designers and developer wishing to test their web apps in Internet Explorer but always had to boot into a whole Operating system, can now relax. IEs4OSX is a standalone application for the mac that can run multiple version of Internet Explorer (without windows) - from IE 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 to 7.0. All of the necessary files and requirements are automatically downloaded - including default Windows IE fonts and browser plug-ins like Macromedia Flash player. All of that, and the download is completely free.
Read the article in full …

Apple has a Quick tip of the week videos as part of its business section. This should be a pretty good place to start with if you’re new to a Mac. Apple’s business section helps you get your business get things done quickly and in a smart manner.

A Mac empowers you with advanced capabilities and a new level of confidence. You can unleash your creativity. Differentiate your business and build your brand. And work from almost anywhere. Without worrying about your technology.

Arul Prasad help me through a Twitter message on How to make a shortcut or an Alias in Mac OS X;

either

• Right click or “Ctrl + Left Click” on the App and do a “Make Alias” or
• Select the App > File > Make Alias (Apple Key + L)

However, I wanted something like Windows - Right Click > Drag > Create Shortcut here. So, here are the steps on How to make an Alias by dragging and dropping.

1. Press the “Apple Key + Option”
2. Select, drag and drop the file/application you wish to make Alias to your desired folder.

I’m pretty sure most of you know about this but not me. I came to know of it by accident. You can open a totally new Finder by “Command + Double Click” on a Folder. Of course, if you select 2 or more folders and do a “Command + Double Click”, all folders will opened up in a new Finder of their own.

DRM is a headache which limits where you can play your songs and how many often can you play them. Here is one way to hack through the encryption and perhaps legally with iTunes.

1. Create a separate new playlist with all the songs you’d like to rip.
2. Use your software’s Burn Disc option to copy the music to audio-CD format.
3. Now, rename the original playlist to save your original songs.
4. Insert the newly burned Audio-CD and import to copy the songs back to iTunes.

You should get your DRM free songs now.

Disclaimer: I have not tried this myself and have not come across a situation where I’ve to do it yet.

I was missing Recent Documents (Windows) in the Mac OS X but not anymore after I found the Recent Items in Mac OS X. You can find the Recent Items from a system-wide location - the Apple Menu.

It lists the 10 most recently used applications, document and servers complete with their respective icons. You can also set the number of items listed for each categories by setting the same in the Appearance pane of System Preferences. You can clear the menu at any time with the “Clear Menu” located at the bottom of the list.

Well, to a Mac colleague of mine, I was boasting off a trick that I learnt recently from - Minimising windows in OS X. But I was defeated at my own trick when he did something - zoom in and out on his screen.

Here is the trick - Hold the Ctrl key while scrolling with two fingers. If you do not know how to scroll with two fingers, you better learn that (it is a real productivity booster). The TouchPad of a Macbook allows you to tip on with one finger and scroll with the another finger. It did took me some practice to get use to using two fingers on the touchpad/trackpad.

Do some practice and you should be able to zoom in and out. Enjoy!

Do you missed the TortoiseSVN plugin for Windows Explorer? I missed it terribly. I was living with RapidSVN for quite sometime. It is not that bad but I needed a bit more satisfaction than that. I was really wishing that I can get SVN integration right in the File Browser - The Finder. Eclipse Projects are well taken care of by Sublipse. What about the other projects that do not necessarily come under Eclipse - where I just monitor the codes, file hierarchy, et al and not really get involved with.

The solution came in with 2 free software - SVN Client and the SCPlugin.

Step 1 - Downloads

Before we start on How to install/use SVN plugin for Finder, let us download the following files

a) SVN Client - get this easy to install Package from Metissian. For the bravehearts, they can compile the source from Subversion.
b) SCPlugin

Step 2 - SVN Client Installation & Confirmation

a) Double click the SVNClient Installer and follow the steps to install it.
b) Add to PATH & Confirm SVNClient Install (follow steps below)

(i) Open Terminal (it is located under Applications > Utilities)
(ii) Type the following without quotes in a single line — “pico .bash_profile”
(iii) Type the following 2 lines –

PATH=”/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/subversion/bin:$PATH”
export PATH

(iv) Save this using Control + O in the Pico Window
(v) Restart your Terminal
(vi) Type “svn” without the quotes to confirm, it should says something like “Type ’svn help’ for Usage”
(vii) That’s it, SVNClient is now installed and functional on your system.

Step 3 - SCPlugin Installation

a) Double Click the SCPlugin Installer and follow the steps to install it.
b) Restart Finder. Well, you really cannot restart Finder, so either Restart your OS or Force Quite (Command + Option + Escape) Finder and Relaunch.

Step 4 - SCPlugin Setup

a) SCPlugin is installed under System Preferences - Screenshot
b) Enable Finder Integration and follow the steps below to set the path to the SVNClient - Screenshot

(i) Click “Open” and Press Command + Shift + G to invoke “Go to Folder” and enter the following line without the quotes - “/usr/local/bin/”
(ii) Select “SVN” and thus your path will look like - “/usr/local/bin/svn”
(iii) Close the System Preferences because you are done!

Now, right click on any folder to start “Subversion > Checkout”. Well, you can then sit back and enjoy.