No one should complain that there are not enough choices for web browsers on the Mac. Each one is unique and has its own merits. The only logical thing to do is to run them all, right. Well at least a few. Here is an abbreviated list.
Safari Firefox Opera Omniweb Camino Shira Devonthink
The problem comes when you start to gather bookmarks and cookies in different browsers. You end up with a rats nest of info and no way to find that bookmark to that site with that guy that was once in that movie (you know, that guy).
The internet has become as much a part of OS X as Mail.app. But if your like me, your mac is stuck behind several layers of security. My first layer of “protection” is Comcast. Comcast really does not want you running your own server with their cable system. They effectively block IMAP ports to prevent you from running your mac as a mail server. They have even begun to packet shape BitTorrent traffic.
If I had any doubt that technology was not living up to my expectations, I'm a believer now. I just installed iPhone Remote on my Mac Pro and all I can say is WOW! My iPhone can control my Mac over the Edge network. iPhone Remote is brought to us by the good people at Google (code named Telekinesis). Maybe they got tired of waiting for the gPhone and decided to make the iPhone the device dreams are made of.
I was quick to complain about the iPhones lack of note syncing. I’m still hopeful that Apple will come through with a patch to implement it.
In the meantime I think I have pretty good work around. If you don’t have an IMAP email account (like .Mac) then you can skip this post.
When I want to make a note, I just create a draft email. I leave the recipient address blank but add a subject title.
You can quickly pause anything playing in the iPod mode of the iPhone without any button presses. In fact you don’t even have to remove the phone from your pocket. Just unplug the headphone jack. Apple was clever enough to realize that if your headphones come unplugged, most likely you don’t want your music to keep playing. You gotta love the attention to detail. I’ve tried this with both the headphones that ship with the iPhone and the traditional iPod headphones.
Do you have a bunch of bin files laying around your documents folder from your PC days of using Nero Express. You know, those arcane disk images that fly all over the net. They’re still out there. There is quite an endless supply on the old torrent-sphere. Well if you have a mac, you can open them right up and convert them to an MPEG-4 video file suitable for playing on your iPod or iPhone.
What if your Mac is stolen? How much personal info do you have just sitting there on those hard disk platters? My Mac has Tax info for the past seven years, copies of bank statements, credit card PINs, and receipts for almost everything I have bought (see this post about archiving it all). It’s rather disturbing to think of all that info falling into mischievous hands.
Up until about 4 months ago, I was using Apple’s FileVault (see this post).
Here’s a quick tip. If your browsing session looks a lot like a game of “52 pickup” then go to Safari’s “Window” menu and choose “Merge.” Voila, all of your open windows are now merged into one. Thanks Apple!
Technorati Tags: Apple, Mac, Web, Software, Tip, Trick
I tend to listen to Podcasts (one of the best is MacBreak Weekly) while I work. But when my wife starts talking to me from the other room, I have to stop what I’m doing to navigate to iTunes just to click Pause. It finally reached a level of annoyance that made me fired up Script Editor and throw together a little script to do it for me. This is just about as simple an Apple Script as you can get:
The quickest way to reduce office clutter is to get rid of paper. The stuff spreads onto every available flat surface and into every open container in the office. New paper is delivered to my house everyday by the mailman whether I want it or not. Even if you opt-out of junk mail, you are still going to get credit card offers from companies that you have a business relationship with.
