The command line is trustworthy, dependable and clean.. GUIs are slow and cranky. This recipe desribes how to burn an ISO image from the command line on a Mac. Yeah, there's a GUI way to do this, but you can be burning the disc before that GUI starts up.Given an ISO file (image.iso, for example) in the current working directory, use the following command to burn it to a disc that you've inserted into a recordable drive: hdiutil burn image.iso Editor Note: Typo Corrected.... Read More

 Prevent people from seeing what you have previously searched for. Erase your google history in safari.Two easy solutions exist to this problem. Reset Safari: This just doesn't erase your google data, it erases your cookies, autofills, cache, history list, usernames, and passwords. 1. Goto the Safari menu 2. Click Safari 3. Select Reset Safari Clearing Just Your Google History: 1. Goto the Safari Menu 2. Select Preferences 3. Select Autofill tab 4. Select the Edit button from the Other Forms Line 5. From the AutoFill list of sites select Google.com 6. Select Remove 7. Select Done... Read More

 A stumbling block for those souls who have been reared on Windows systems but have seen the light and moved to a Mac is the single button mouse. But wait, there's no need to rush out and buy a two-button mouse just for this.To simulate a right mouse button click while using a one-button mouse on a Mac, like to get a context sensitive menu for an object on the screen, hold down ctrl and click the mouse button while your mouse pointer is over the object.... Read More

 The title of the Mac OS X terminal window can easily be changed. This can be useful when running a script or when using multiple terminal windows for different purposes to easily identify them when switching between applications and windows.In the terminal window, from a bash prompt (the default shell) or in a bash shell script, use the following command to change the terminal window title to Tech-Recipes rules: echo -n -e "\033]0;Tech-Recipes rules\007" You can place (just about) any text in place of Tech-Recipes rules including the contents of a variable. For example: name=`hostname` echo -n -e "\033]0;$name\007" This will change the title of the terminal to the hostname of the computer running the shell.... Read More

 The command line completion feature is turned on by default on Mac OS X systems, you only need to know how to use it.When typing a command in the shell of a terminal window, you can simplify your life with the file/directory tab autocompletion feature. Consider that the current directory contains these two directories: Backup files, and Books. If you want to switch into the Backup Files directory, type: cd Ba<tab> where represents the tab key. Note that if you just type cd B there is an ambiguity since there are two matches. In this case, the shell will list the matches and return you to the same command line state as before you typed the tab key. A common problem in using command line interfaces on systems with graphical interfaces is that spaces in filenames, while simple in a GUI, complicate things in a command line because shells typically use a space to separate command line parameters. The shell is smart enough to place a backslash before a space in the subsequent autocompl... Read More

 For the sake of security, recommendations say to have unique, complex passwords. Most people have a hard time remembering these and will eventually forget one. Forgetting the root password on a Mac system can seem devastating, but this recipe will show an easy way to recover.If you have the password to an account that is an administrator on the system, then it is easy to recover the password using the sudo command. Open a terminal window and type: sudo passwd root and you will be prompted for your password (the user account that you do remember). Then you will be prompted for the new root password twice. That's it! The sudo command is a wonderful way to control who can do what on a system. In this case, since the user account is considered an administrator, the sudo command allows you (after confirming that you are who you say you are with the user password) to run a command as if you were root. The command we are running is passwd root which is the command to change the password for t... Read More

 Some web pages may use a font size that doesn't render properly in different browsers on various platforms. If you find yourself squinting at a web page, this simple keyboard shortcut can help.To increase the font size of the current web page, press command + by holding down the command key (with the apple and the squiggly) and pressing a plus key (no shift required). To reduce the font size, press command - (command and minus). I've tested this with Safari and Firefox. It may work with other browsers and applications.... Read More

 Copying files from your iPod to your Apple system is easy. Here are the commands.After seeing a recent tutorial on copying files from your iPod to your PC, I wanted to show Apple users that it is pretty easy to copy files from your iPod as well. That's actually a pretty interesting tutorial for both Apples and PCs so check it out. His instructions for apple, however, were pretty thin. Here is what you need to know to copy your music files from your ipod to your apple. 1. Open a terminal window 2. Run the following type of command: cp -R /Volumes/ipodname/iPod_Control/Music local_music_path where: ipodname = the name of your actual iPod local_music_path = path on your Apple you want to copy your files to Here is what I run on my system. cp -R /Volumes/mickmPod/iPod_Control/Music /Users/mickm/Music 3. Wait while the files are copied over to your system. A new line prompt will appear when it has completed. You will see a bunch of numbered folders in your local_music_path. 4. See this tuto... Read More

 If you download a DMG file and need to write it to a CD or DVD but don't have the necessary drive on your Mac, you can convert it to the Window's friendly ISO format using the hdiutil command.The hdiutil command is only available in Mac OSX so these steps must be performed on the Mac side, not on a Windows host. Open a terminal window (Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal)Given the disk image image.dmg in the current directory, it can be converted with: hdiutil convert image.dmg -format UDTO -o image.iso This will actually create a file called image.iso.cdr in the current directory (even though we asked for the output to be image.iso). This file can be safely renamed to image.iso, copied to a Windows server, and burned with your CD/DVD burner of choice.... Read More

 Taking screenshots in OS X is very simple. Here are the shortcuts to do it. Command+Shift+3 Capture entire screen and save as a file Command+Control+Shift+3 Capture entire screen and copy to the clipboard Command+Shift+4 Capture selected area and save as a file Command+Control+Shift+4 Capture selected area and copy to the clipboard Command+Shift+4 then Space bar Capture window, menu, desktop icon, or menu bar and save as a file Command+Control+Shift+4 then Space bar Capture window, menu, desktop icon, or menu bar and copy to clipboard... Read More

 Microsoft has recently released released dreamscene which allows users to run a movie file as the desktop background. High quality free video software will do this for mac as well.Although not friendly to the CPU, running a movie as a background is natural in certain environments. I love working with some of my old favorite movies or music videos playing along. I usually would do it in a window; however, having it as the background is one step better. On OS X, it is pretty easy. I use the free divx player. 1. Download and install the divx player 2. Load the movie clip 3. Click Playback menu 4. Select Desktop... Read More

 Encrypt your OS X Tiger home folder against hackers...this deal's pretty sweet! Here's how to do it.FileVault Protection encrypts your home folder. Heres a quick guide on how to do this. 1. Go to System Preferences, and click on Security. 2. Click Turn on FileVault 3. You will be prompted for your password. Type it and hit OK 4. Youll get a traditional Apple warning boxif you want to turn on FileVault, click the obvious button. To turn off FileVault, go back to Step 2, only the button will say Turn off FileVault Happy file encryption!... Read More

 Have you ever been working in, say, Microsoft Word or Mail, and needed to add a picture that you know is in your iPhoto library? Use this tip, and save yourself from even having to open iPhoto. Automator is quite possibly a very underestimated feature of Tiger. I didnt think it amounted to much, until I discovered that you could easily make simple tasks into applications. [1] First, I opened Automator. [2] In the Library, click on iPhoto. Notice new things have appeared under the Actions column. [3] Click Ask For Photos in that column. [4] Now, drag it to the Workflow box. (The grey box that says Drag or add actions here to build your workflow.) [5] The grey box now looks like this: [6] There's no need to change anything else... [7] Now, you need to save your project. Thankfully, when you go to File>Save, Automator lets you choose whether you want to save your project as a Workflow or Application. For our sake, choose Application. Your application is saved wherever you put it. When ... Read More

 Your favorites list is the quickest way to dial somebody. Here is how to add somebody to your favorites list on the Apple iPhone.Getting to dial somebody from your contact list takes several key presses. By adding a contacting to your favorites list, you can dial them much more quickly. Here is how to do it. 1. In your iPhone, bring up your contact list. 2. Click the Favorites star icon in the left lower corner of the screen 3. Click the Plus icon in the upper right hand corner of the favorites screen 4. The contact window will reopen. Select the Contact you want to add to your favorites list. 5. The contact will now appear in your favorites list.... Read More

 Managing the favorites folder in your iPhone is simple. This tutorial will show how to delete a favorite or rearrange the favorite entries.Keep those precious favorite positions well tuned. Here is how... 1. First go into your favorites screen. 2. Click the Edit icon in the upper left hand corner. 3. To delete a favorite, click the red icon beside the name (highlighted in green below) and then confirm the deletion. 4. To move a favorite, click to the right of the name (highlighted in yellow below) and then slide the name to the position you wish. Pruning and rearranging the favorites on your iPhone could not be easier.... Read More

 This recipe will explain how to boot your OSX86 install using the Vista bootloader. This recipe assumes you have installed XP and Vista prior to OS X. Props go out to original poster: jjhare over at insanelymac.com First things first; no i did not figure this out on my own rather have decided to compile the posts i've found and info into a nice and easy recipe. I had originally tried to use WinGRUB to do my booting but had quite a few problems with it so i decided to try this route and got it working! Here's a list of my setup and install notes: Operating Systems installed: -Windows XP Prof (located on my main hd, first partition, c:) -Windows Vista BE (located on my main hd, second partition, d:) -OSX86 10.4.8 JaS w/SSE2/SSE3 AMD_Intel build (located on my second hd, first and only partition; harddrive was marked as active prior to install and formatted as FAT32 and then erased w/disk utility for mac os x) Files you will need: -chain0 (get over here: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/... Read More

 In coherence mode Parallels can display open windows programs in the dock. Therefore, why have the windows taskbar taking up space too?Even as a vista junky, I still use OS X for my graphic design. Thus, parallels works wonders for me. Coherence Mode in Parallels allows windows to run on the same desktop as OS X. By default, coherence mode displays the windows taskbar; however, the desktop is much nicer if the taskbar is disabled. Here is how to do it. The confusion is that this option is no longer available from the Parallels Tools that rest within the system tray like it was in previous versions. 1. From Parallels click the Applications menu 2. Select Hide Windows Taskbar... Read More

 Google adsense and many other programs export data into tab delimited CSV files. Numbers will not open these files with the correct formatting. However, with some minor preparation, Numbers will open the files perfectly.The problem is honestly not iWork's Numbers program. The problem is that CSV files are not supposed to be tab delimited. As their name suggests, CSV files should contain Comma Seperated Values. Although Excel does not care and has a wizard to walk the user through the import process, Numbers is a little more strict. This is what happens if you try to load a tab delimited CSV file in Numbers: Messy, huh? Luckily, the fix is very easy. Tab delimited files should be in txt format. In a Finder window, click on your .csv file and rename it to a .txt file. Now when you open the file in Numbers, you formatting will be correct.... Read More

 Installing OS X from a DMG file can be difficult. With leopard testing and development, many people are having troubles installing from the supplied binary. Here is how it can be accomplished.Installing OS X from a dmg file format instead of a DVD/CD format seems challenging. Here is how it can be accomplished. 1. Burn it to Dual Layer DVD OS X is too large to fit on a single layer DVD; however, many macbooks support burning dual layer DVDs. The media is expensive, but for many people this is the easiest option. Burn it and reboot to it. The OS X will install. 2. Restore the dmg file to an external device An external hard drive or an iPod in hard disk mode will serve as an excellent booting device as well. - Copy your dmg file to your current apple desktop. - In the Utilities Folder in your Applications Folder select Disk Utility - Select your external device in the left column of the utility - Click the Restore button - Drag your dmg to your Source textbox - Drag your device from the ... Read More

 So you've ditched Windows and got yourself a new Macintosh - congratulations on such a smart move! If you're new to the Mac and are running Tiger (OS X v10.4.x), feed your need for the missing Windows Start menu with this recipe. One of the first things you'll no doubt be asking is "How the heck do I find and run programs since there's no Start menu?" Well, the Mac can accommodate that by adding an icon to the Dock (that strip of pretty pictures across the bottom of the screen.) Although the Dock has buttons for some of the programs installed on the Mac, all of them can be found in the Applications folder. But, opening it requires a few clicks and is not the most intuitive process. What we need to do is place a shortcut to Applications on the dock. Start by double clicking the "Macintosh HD" icon found on the desktop (looks like a little silver hard drive.) A window containing files and folders will open - this is called the Finder. Visually locate the Applications folder (don't click ... Read More