Tips, Tricks & Hacks for OS X

TotalFinder brings Tabs to your native Finder! « Smoking Apples

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:20:55 -0500

TotalFinder brings Tabs to your native Finder! « Smoking Apples:

This is neat.

View Tumblr Dashboard in Tweetie or Twitterrifc

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:14:43 -0500

View Tumblr Dashboard in Tweetie or Twitterrifc

Google Wave Invites

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:43:53 -0500

So I know probably only like 4 people read this blog, but I’ve got a ton of google wave invites, and all my friends have ‘em already, so they’re just sitting there collecting dust. Anybody want one? Reply here or (DM me on twitter if you don’t want the whole world seeing your email address) if you’re still in need of an invite.

MacStories Apps Tree: 300 Licenses of Mac and iPhone Apps Up for Grabs Worth $10,000!

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:55:41 -0500

MacStories Apps Tree: 300 Licenses of Mac and iPhone Apps Up for Grabs Worth $10,000!:

Ticci from macstories is giving away a metric fuck-ton of apps. I own a lot of these, there is definitely some good stuff in there.

Even easier Remote Torrenting with Dropbox and Transmission

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:40:28 -0500

Earlier, I discussed how to control your torrents from a remote machine using Transmission, but for simply adding new torrents to Transmission, it turns out there’s an even simpler solution, using, yet again, Dropbox. (I swear, they aren’t paying me! I just really love this app!)

# 1. Create a “watch folder” for new Torrents in Dropbox.

First create a folder where you’ll download new torrents you want added to your home server running Transmission. I called mine, um, Torrents.

# 2. Setup Transmission to monitor your folder.

Open up Transmission and go to Preferences and select Transfers. First, you want to make sure torrents are automatically added by checking “Start transfers when added” and either un-checking the “Display ‘adding transfer’ options window” or “Only when there are multiple files”, depending on if you still want this window to open up when you add files normally.

Now check the “Auto add” button and select the folder you created above.

As a side note, you should also ensure that the folder you are downloading these files *to* is outside of your Dropbox if you plan on downloading large files too big for your account.

# 3. Download a torrent to folder.

Download your (totally legitimage and wholly legal) torrent file to the Torrents folder of your Dropbox on another computer.

Voila! Your torrent should now be downloading and ready for your enjoyment once you get home. If you’re interested in checking on it’s progress while you’re away, check out my earlier post detailing that.

# 4. What if I already have Transmission monitoring a different folder?

So, I actually already have Transmission watching my Downloads folder so that things downloaded in a web browser automatically open as well. Unfortunately Transmission only allows you to watch one folder at a time. To get around this, I used the same trick I did in my iTunes/Dropbox watched folder tip. I set up a launch daemon to watch my Torrents folder inside Dropbox and move any torrent files to the Downloads folder, where they’ll be picked up by Transmission. You can download the script I made here.

1Password Integration with Google Chrome...in Windows too!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:52:00 -0500

So if you read my earlier posts about using 1Password in Windows using 1PasswordAnywhere and SSB’s, you’ll probably be psyched to learn there is now a way to get browser integration of those passwords in Google Chrome on Windows as well!

I recently read on the 1Password blog how to use a little feature initially meant for the iPhone to get your 1Password integration into Google Chrome on the mac. This is great for people who use Chrome on the mac, I usually just use Safari, so I figured it didn’t really apply to me.

But I do use Chrome on Windows pretty regulary, and then it occurred to me I could use this trick to get my passwords into Chrome on Windows as well!

Here’s the basic idea: 1Password can create a bookmarklet, which basically contains a whole database of all your logins in javascript, encrypted by a password of your choosing. This is how they allow you to login using Mobile Safari on the iPhone, since they can’t write a plugin for the iPhone’s browser.

Turns out though, this little bookmarklet is also compatible with Chrome! So you can just drag it over to your Chrome toolbar, and voila! So how do you get into Chrome on Windows then?

# Xmarks the spot

Time for another fantastic little syncing utility to add to your toolbox. Xmarks is great little bookmark syncing utility, compatible with IE, Firefox, Safari, and yes, even Chrome for windows. (You’ll need the latest beta of Chrome with extensions enabled to use it.) I use it to sync bookmarks across several computers and browsers.

# Install Xmarks

Install Xmarks for Safari on the mac where you have 1Password installed. Also install the Xmarks Chrome extension on the Windows machine.

# Create the bookmarklet

Follow the instructions here to create your bookmarklet. Now, instead of just dragging it to the Chrome toolbar, also drag it to Safari’s toolbar.

# Sync Xmarks

Sync Xmarks on the mac, and then on Chrome. You should now see your bookmarklet on your Windows version of Chrome. Go to a site with a saved login and give it a go!

This looks purdy. davidkaneda: Outside is an upcoming weather...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:41:06 -0500

This looks purdy.

davidkaneda:

Outside is an upcoming weather app for the iPhone with a beautiful UI and push notifications.

I didn’t like the default GV Mobile icon, so I made...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:49:00 -0500

GV Mobile Icon

Before & After

I didn’t like the default GV Mobile icon, so I made another to look more like the default iPhone dock icons. I use it with Winterboard.

Download it here.

1Password 3.0 out of beta

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:46:49 -0500

1Password 3.0 out of beta:

This app is worth every penny. A must-have for Mac users.

Dropbox Votebox lets you decide what they work on next

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:07:26 -0500

Dropbox Votebox lets you decide what they work on next

The Awesome Book Giveaway

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:15:02 -0500

davidkaneda:

A lot of my friends, colleagues, and flat-out heros have released some excellent books recently. I’ve mentioned a few of them, but I think it would be fun to run a giveaway and help spread some of this fine knowledge around the community. Here are the books I am giving away:

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, Jonathan Stark
An excellent introduction to creating web applications on the iPhone. I’ve watched this book grow over the past few months and I can say with confidence that it’s ready to become a definitive reference for creating iPhone web apps. In addition to covering the basics, the book also includes a full chapter on jQTouch, my jQuery plugin for iPhone development.

Designing With Web Standards, Jeffrey Zeldman
For anyone getting into web development, Zeldman’s DWWS continues to serve as the ultimate introduction to web standards and best practices. I’ve trained a fair amount of budding designers, and this book is always first on my “required reading” list. Now in it’s third edition, the book continues to stay fresh and relevant.

Mobile Design and Development, Brian Fling
Brian’s a good friend of mine and colleague at pinch/zoom. His presentations on mobile design are beautiful, informative, and comprehensive. This book promises to be a wealth of insight into mobile design practices and industry trends.

Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuk
For anyone who hasn’t had the benefit of seeing Gary speak live, he is the creator of Wine Library TV and one of the most inspirational speakers on social media around. Crush It is not just about doing what you love and making great money while doing it, but shows just how accessible success is in today’s web culture.

Rework, 37Signals
Readers of this blog will note: 37Signals is one of my favorite companies around—it is an overwhelming business success built on principles like communicating clearly and charging for value. Their previous book, Getting Real, remains the authoritative guide on building web apps. This one, set to release early next year, will speak purely to business management—and will doubtlessly be full of exceptional advice.

To participate, just leave a reply below with the number corresponding to the book you want most, a quick note about what type of content you’d like to see more of on this blog, and your Twitter username. I’ll select winners randomly at the end of the week. Also, make sure you’re following me on Twitter so I can DM the details to the winners.

So, which book would you like?

iPhone: The Easiest Way to Jailbreak and the Best Jailbreak Apps [It's Just Too Easy]

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:29:45 -0400

iPhone: The Easiest Way to Jailbreak and the Best Jailbreak Apps [It's Just Too Easy]:

I actually prefer to use PwnageTool, but Mike has a fantastic round-up of Jailbreak apps and tweaks that make jailbreaking worthwhile.

How To Control Multiple Macs With Teleport – Mac.AppStorm

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:25:35 -0400

How To Control Multiple Macs With Teleport – Mac.AppStorm

Instapaper: Tips, Hacks and Tuts for iPhone and Mac Users.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:49:58 -0400

Instapaper: Tips, Hacks and Tuts for iPhone and Mac Users.:

More SSB Goodness with Instapaper.

Chrome as an SSB

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:47:00 -0400

If you read my last two tips, on accessing 1Password and Transmission remotely, you’d know that I’m a big fan of SSBs, Site-Specific Browsers.

In those tips I mentioned using Prism on Windows, which works fine, but today I discovered that my favorite Windows browser, Chrome, actually supports SSBs out of the box, and because it uses the Webkit engine, in my opinion, it looks a bit nicer. In particular, 1Password seemed to have issues with the numbers in the table on the left lining up properly, but renders just fine with Chrome.

And if you already have Chrome installed, why not, right?

And with Chrome it’s reeeeeeeeeeellllly easy. Just navigate to the page you want to make an SSB out of and click the little page icon in the upper-right-hand corner. You’ll see “Create application shortcuts…”:

Click that and you’ll get a pop-up:

And you’re done!

Hacks enable MMS on first generation iPhones and tethering on 3.12 OS | 9 to 5 Mac

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:47:27 -0400

Hacks enable MMS on first generation iPhones and tethering on 3.12 OS | 9 to 5 Mac

A Preview of Sharing Files With Droplr – Mac.AppStorm

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:29:05 -0400

A Preview of Sharing Files With Droplr – Mac.AppStorm:

Interesting…looks similar to Cloud.app. I like the Custom Domain name idea for short URLs though.

10/GUI on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:59 -0400

10/GUI on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

CNET tests show Snow Leopard besting Windows 7 on performance and battery life | 9 to 5 Mac

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:52:36 -0400

CNET tests show Snow Leopard besting Windows 7 on performance and battery life | 9 to 5 Mac

Microsoft Confirms Data Recovery for Sidekick Users

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:17:00 -0400

Microsoft Confirms Data Recovery for Sidekick Users:

Oh, just kidding! We still have all your data! This whole thing seems verrrry fishy.