Apple Krazy

Editor’s note: The following is a post from Dave Taylor, a blog partner of ours who answers reader questions.

My sister and I share a Mac computer and I’m tired of her looking at my files. Is there some way I can protect or hide my folders without downloading any software she’d notice?

Dave’s Answer:

Seems to me that the very best possible solution is for you and your sister to set up different accounts on your Mac, actually. That’s one of the real benefits of Mac OS X (and, for that matter, Windows too).

You can do that by simply going to Apple –> System Preferences… –> Accounts and setting up an account for her. Then simply ensure that you log out when you’re done with the computer each time and she won’t be able to get to any of your files and you’ll be safe from having her mess with your preferences, settings, etc.

No? That’s not what you want to do?

Okay, I’ll give you a couple of neat Terminal tricks that can help you out, one that lets you make a folder closed to everyone and another that makes it disappear completely until you make it reappear.

In both cases, you’ll need to launch Applications –> Utilities –> Terminal.app. It’ll start out in your account “home” directory, which you can check by typing pwd. Move to the directory where your folder or files lives by typing in cd followed by the name of the directory.

For example, if I wanted to protect a folder on the Desktop, then I’d type in cd Desktop and move there.

Now, to make a folder completely locked and unreadable, simply type in:

$ chmod 000 my-protected-folder

You won’t get any feedback but you’ll end up with something like this (pay particular attention to the “testing123″ folder and how it’s portrayed):

To get back in when you want to, simply go back to the same place with the “cd” command and type in:

$ chmod 775 my-protected-folder

To hide a folder or file completely, simply preface its name with a “.”. For example, to hide “testing123″ I’d rename it “.testing123″:

$ mv testing123 ".testing123”

Wanna get that one back to normal? Go back to the same directory and type in the reverse: mv .testing123 testing123

So there you go, three possible solutions to your problem. Hope one of them works out for you!

A little tweaking and a lot of heat avoidance should allow iPhone owners to prolong the life of the non-owner-replaceable battery inside Apple’s latest gadget.

Heat is very, very bad for the lifespan of the iPhone battery. Since it’s summer in the US, people should resist the temptation to leave their $600 device in the glovebox or on the dashboard. That would be bad.

Ars Technica said Apple has posted some helpful advice on extending the battery’s life span. Since changing the battery involves sending the iPhone back to Apple and paying $85 for a replacement battery, anything one can do to put that off would be a good idea.

Apple said the lithium battery needs to be used, so use the iPhone regularly (also helps with that revenue sharing Apple has going on with AT&T). Lock the iPhone when it is not in use (this deactivates the touch screen), and optimize settings:

Read the rest of this entry »

My biggest pet peeve is dirty or sticky hands. But even with my problem struggle, my white macbook still gets dirty. You can easily see which keys I use the most.

I’ve tried the specialized products like iKlear but they just didn’t do that great of a job. So, out of frustration, I just raided my cleaning cabinet to see what was in there. (Of course, I did this while my wife was gone. I didn’t want her getting any ideas.)

I pulled out the Glass Plus Wipes and thought they looked as good as anything else.

The back said that they were safe enough for computer screens, but I decided to wipe down my whole machine with it. I fired up the keyboard cleaner appand got my wipe on. It turned out awesome. The keys, mouse, and palm rest are all clean again. And for an added bonus, they all feel like they did when they were new.

So I’m sharing this tip because they worked great for me. And, they are cheap. We got ours at Albertson’s for $3.99 Obviously be cautious with your own machine. Maybe try a little corner or key first.

An apparent packaging oversight in the new MacBooks has been acknowledged by Apple in a note on its Knowledgebase support site. 

The note says, in part, “fan running consistently and heat emanating from the top and/or the bottom of the computer. If this happens with your MacBook, check the rear vent of the MacBook to make sure it’s not blocked. Some MacBooks may have left the factory with a thin piece of clear plastic covering the rear vent. This is used in the factory to prevent dust from getting into your computer. If your MacBook has the plastic still over the vent, simply remove and discard it.”

However, Apple also directs users to another page (http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n30612) on what to do if you don’t have the plastic strip and your MacBook is overheating all the same.

Analysis: Apparently an innocent mistake, but many users wouldn’t think to look for blocked vents. Sounds like they left the factory in a heck of a hurry.

Many Macbook owners are having issues with discoloration. Many users have probably noticed the panels on the laptop, where the palms rest as becoming yellow. Well, there is a solution! A Californian found a solution,

“I had this same problem, except my machine was discolored in the first few days. I tried 409 and Clorox bleach with little success. I found that Non-acetone nail polish remover cleans it up nicely. Only problem, my fingers feel like sand paper after using it. You should use clear, or blue colored Non-acetone nail polish remover. If you use another color it will slightly tint your MacBook that color. Do not use acetone based, or isopropyl alcohol, those may damage the plastic. Source: Apple Discussion Board”

We’re usually about giving tips on FreeMacBlog, but today I’m hoping that some of you can give me some tips.

Like a lot of iTunes users, I went on a wild tear of building up my music library in iTunes. It seems like I was ripping music cd’s left and right. (”What’s that? You have a copy of Mr Roger’s Greatest Hits? Can I borrow that to rip it real quick?”)

I’ve managed to keep a pretty good handle on my collection. Everything is tagged properly and the album artwork is included on all songs.

Well now it’s seems that I’ve been more about quality and less about quantity. I’ve been trying to trim down my collection. To do this, I just have the songs play random while I am working on my computer. When a song comes on, I’ll switch over to iTunes, find the song that is playing, delete the song from the library and the music folder and start the next song. I’ve been able to get rid of quite a few interludes on rap albums and other waste of space songs.

But here is my question. Can anyone think of a faster way to delete the currently playing song? I use Sizzlingkeys to jump between songs, but I really wish that there was an included keyboard shortcut to “delete the current song and skip to next song.” (I did write to the developer and request it. He replied that he’d see about getting it into a future release.)

In the mean time, does anyone have any other suggestions? It’d be great to trash the songs without having to leave the application I am working in at the time. Is there a plugin out there that is alluding me?

When you open Activity Monitor you can see a graph of how much memory your computer is using. But why are there 4 types of memory, represented by various colors on the graph?

Alex has an explanation of what all these types of memory mean — wired, active, inactive, and free — and also how memory usage affects system performance. To summarize, wired memory is used by the system; active memory is used by currently running applications; inactive memory was used by recently closed applications, which allows them to reopen quickly, and free memory is unused. For a better explanation see Alex’s Is my Mac using too much memory?

Our claim to fame is letting folks know where they can go to download the best in Mac freeware, but there are already some great free applications hiding on your Mac that you might not know about. With the initial install of Mac OS X Tiger, there is a Utilities folder full of goodies. You can find it in your Applications folder or by pressing Shift-Command-U in Finder.

Once there, you’ll find all kinds of goodies. I thought I’d run thru each one and let you know what it is and what you can do with it.

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Danny Gorog has written an interesting piece for APCmag.com on why most people should buy a Mac. He makes solid arguments supporting his belief that most people would be better off owning a Mac.

On the issue of cost he writes, “Getting back to the cost, it’s true that you won’t find a Mac as cheap as cheapest red spot specials from Dell or Acer. But have you actually tried buying one of those $799 laptops recently? By the time you spec them up to a reasonable standard, you’ll find you’ll have spent half as much again in extra RAM and an upgrade from basic DVD-ROM to DVD writer.”

To read the full article click here.