OS X Hacker

Eject a stubborn .dmg

I’ve run into the odd time that Finder will refuse to eject a .dmg file. I found that you can force an eject using the terminal using the following command:

hdiutil detach ImageName

For the ImageName part, it’s easy enough to type the first letter and then hit tab to auto-complete the dmg name.

You can have several versions of IE installed side by side… try that on a PC ;). Once You’re done with IE, drag it to the trash, and it’s gone. ies4osx makes use of wine to install and run IE. And wine needs a Intel processor… ies4osx (2) # 11/29/07

Make your extensions compatible with Firefox 3

Using the nightly tester tools extension, you can make all of your plugins compatible with the latest version of firefox. Simply install the plugin, then go to tools->add ons and click the “make all compatible button at the bottom.

If you want to install new extensions that might not be compatible, open up the preferences for the nightly tester tools extension and choose to disable add-on compatibility checking.

Here’s a screenshot of me running firefox 3 beta 1 with a working del.icio.us bookmarks extension.

Enjoy.

Here are a bunch of little tweaks you can make to leopard from the command line in terminal. Usingmac.com - Leopard Tweaking - Terminal Codes (0) # 11/19/07

Make your stacks look awesome!

“Stacks is pretty much Leopard’s only non-eyecandy change to the dock, and it had the potential to be pretty handy, but the fact that the icon representing the stack is whatever the top file in the folder happens to be really ruins it (for me at least). However, if you haven’t yet given up on stacks and thrown them off your dock, there is a solution: overlaying stacks icons.”

Make stacks look awesome

Fupi URLs, because longer isn’t always better…

Fupi URLs are are short URLs that automatically redirect to destinations that you choose. By creating a Fupi URL you can add destinations with long URLs to programs like Twitter, Pownce or send them along in emails. You can also password protect your Fupi URL. The url fupi.us only takes up 7 characters making it an ideal domain for a short url service. Plus, the Fupi algorithm for URLs is designed to create the smallest possible sequence of characters. Enjoy!

fupi.ws

Midnight Inbox

Been getting frustrated with the interface for iGTD, so last night I went looking for an alternate (non-web based) solution. I found Midnight Inbox while searching the Lifehacker archives, watched the screencast and decided to purchase. So far, I’ve been pretty happy.

Midnight Inbox helps you work smarter, not harder, by organizing your projects, email messages, files, contexts and tasks so that you can always be on top of your world. Users of Mac OS X Tiger will find its clean lines and elegant typography make it the best in its class for keeping lists and notes.

P.S. Sorry for the large gap in posts, will try to keep it more consistent.

Mac character keys, a handy reference for all of the extra characters that keystrokes can generate on a mac. I was going to post something like this about a month ago, but their version is much much better (and more handy). (4) # 08/21/07

The Fastest Airport Transfers Are One Way

Even on an 802.11g network you can achieve some pretty fast transfers between your Macs & PC’s, provided one detail: one of the computers you’ll be transferring to or from is hard-wired via Ethernet.

Every wireless network has a threshold of bandwidth available on it which is somewhat in flux, due to the distances the connections are made at; the variety of devices on a network and their respective transfer speeds; and the amount of traffic on the network at the time you make a transfer.

Making a transfer of a 1.18GB video file from my Core2Duo Macbook wirelessly to an Ethernet wired Core2Duo iMac through my 802.11n Airport Extreme, I achieve wireless speeds of around 11.3Mb/sec. In terms of time, that 1.18GB video file took less than a minute to complete.

Making the same transfer with both computers wirelessly connected to the Airport Extreme, the transfer speeds were more than sliced in half. Why? (more…)

There’s a new version of Handbrake out, featuring improved UI, speed enhancements and presets for a portable devices. (0) # 08/20/07