Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking

There is one iOS “tip” that I keep hearing and it is wrong. Worse, I keep hearing it from supposedly authoritative sources. I have even heard it from the lips of Apple “Geniuses” in stores.

(Via Fraser Speirs.)

I know several people who think they have to kill all the apps that are listed in the iOS multitasking bar (like Android users have to do). Fraser tells them otherwise.

If your phone battery is draining quick, it’s more likely the culprit is a runaway process, and the only real thing that will fix it is shutting down your phone and restarting it after waiting a few minutes.

• Bogart WordPress Theme Updated
• Some Mac App Store apps already hit by easy piracy trick
• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated (Again)

Apple billing e-mail scam making the rounds

Last week we warned that people be aware of potential Christmas scams, especially those involving Apple’s products as the company has become exceptionally popular in the past few years.

Via MacFixIt – CNET Reviews.

Just a quick reminder here, ALWAYS question emails you receive which mention ANYTHING about billing status or other personal information, and NEVER, EVER, EVER click a link in one of those messages. If in doubt, as the article says, browse to the company website by typing the URL yourself and log into your account from there.

• MacFixIt ‘General Maintenance’ Recommendations
• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder

• Fixed an issue where Yasu would not remove user cache files that had incorrect permissions.
• Changed how Yasu logs errors so they’re easier to find in the log file (at the very end now).
• When Yasu does log errors, the application will perform the final steps (restart, shut down, etc.) after user has dismissed the error notification panel.
• The Cancel button on the run panel now disables as tasks are being performed, and re-enables between tasks.
• Other small code factoring.

As always, the latest version can be downloaded from the Yasu page, or updated by selecting “Check for Updates…” in the Yasu application menu.

• Yasu Updated to 2.7.1
• Yasu Updated for Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion”
• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder

Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

Safe Boot is a special way to start when troubleshooting. Safe Mode is the state Mac OS X is in after a Safe Boot. To perform a Safe Boot, hold the Shift key immediately after your Mac starts up.

Safe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting. However, certain Mac OS X features do not work in Safe Mode.

Via Apple Support.

Continuing our theme of troubleshooting boot issues, this Apple support article explains exactly what “Safe Boot” is, how to do it, and what OS X features won’t work when you’ve started up using this method.

• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference
• Fixing Slow Start-ups in Mac OS X

Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

Instead of seeing the Finder or the login window after startup, your computer may stop responding and the display may only show a persistent gray screen (you may also see an Apple logo, spinning gear, spinning globe, prohibitory sign, or a folder with a flashing question mark on it).

Via Apple Support

As a follow-up to my Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference post last week, here’s a good Apple Support article for troubleshooting issues if your Mac seems like it’s stuck at some point on the gray startup screen.

If you’re still running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier, then you’ll want to check out this article instead.

• Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference
• MacBook Pro Intermittent Black Screen or Loss of Video
• Playing It Safe When Booting Up Mac OS X

Get rid of .zip files once they’re expanded

Mac OS X makes opening .zip files simple: you double-click them, and the OS quickly unzips them. But one thing has always bugged me: After I unzip it, the original .zip file—for which I no longer have any use—is still there. I’d rather my Mac clean up the zipped versions of files automatically after I expand them, instead of leaving me with one more thing to get rid of.

(Via: Macworld)

I used to end up letting a bunch of zip archives pile up in my Downloads folder, sometimes taking up gigabytes of precious disk space. This handy trick helped me to clean up after myself once and for all.

• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download
• Twitter: ‘We aren’t actively planning’ Tweetie 2 for Mac
• Clean Up Your WordPress Database Collations

10 Top CSS Design Resources

The following collection is a one-​​stop-​​shop for CSS. From the official home page of W3C to gradients and button generators — each of these resources has been carefully reviewed and tested. With these tools, you can carry out any CSS design task that you want using CSS as the primary, if not only, system for implementing the look and feel.

(Via: designfestival.com)

A top-notch list of tools to help with CSS development — but use them to learn from to become a CSS ninja yourself and be able to write awesome code from scratch.

• Yasu 2.6.8 Final Released
• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users
• Keyboard Scrolling in Lion Application Windows

Intel-based Mac: Startup sequence and error codes, symbols

The following is an overview of the startup sequence, error conditions, and behaviors for all Intel-based Macintosh systems. Note that some newer Macintosh models only use tones to indicate error conditions. See this article for more information.

Via Apple – Support – Most Recent.

Have you ever wondered exactly what’s going on when you turn on your Mac? Why does the Apple logo show up, and then the spinning gear? This Apple support article answers those questions, and gives some clues about what might be wrong if your computer doesn’t want to boot correctly.

• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Playing It Safe When Booting Up Mac OS X
• MacBook Pro Intermittent Black Screen or Loss of Video

Workaround for Having No Scrollbar Arrows in Mac OS X Lion

Although you can set scrollbars to always display in windows, there is no option to show the actual scrollbar arrows anymore in Mac OS X Lion. A simple workaround to get used to this is to start using the keyboards up and down arrow keys instead.

(via: OS X Daily)

Also note that while you hold down the Option key and type the up or down arrow you’re able to scroll by an entire page as it’s displayed on screen. And when you add the Command key to the mix you’re able scroll all the way to the top or bottom of a page.

I’m pretty sure this method of scrolling has worked in earlier versions of OS X — at least 10.6 that I’m sure of, and probably all the way back to 10.3, if not before that.

Still, it’s a handy trick to learn if you like to navigate using the keyboard.

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• Navigate Finder with arrows
• Automatically Get Rid of Those Used .zip Archives

This method doesn’t require opening Terminal or using any special app. All you need is to add a quick setting to your Keyboard System Preferences.

Normally in the Finder, if you click the “Go” menu, you won’t see your User Library folder. While it’s a bit of a pain for power users, I can understand why Apple chose to go this route. Many inexperienced users have gotten themselves in big trouble poking around in here.

However, when you hold down the Option key and select the “Go” menu, that’s when you’ll see your User Library folder — but you’ll notice it’s the only folder that doesn’t have a keystroke attached to it. This is kind of a pain if you like to navigate by keyboard like I do.

Here’s how we can easily solve that problem.

Open up System Preferences and select the Keyboard preference. Click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab, then click “Application Shortcuts” in the left pane. Then click the “plus” icon just below the right pane…

In the sheet that drops down, select “Finder” as the application (that’s pretty important), type “Library” in the Menu Title field (that’s important too), then assign a Keyboard Shortcut of “Option + Shift + Command + L” and finally click the “Add” button…

Now you’ve got a keystroke assigned to the Library menu option in the Finder “Go” menu. It’s okay to quit System Preferences now.

Back in the Finder, if you hold down the “Option + Shift” keys (our new keyboard shortcut slightly changed the behavior of the menu), and click on the “Go” menu, you see the Library folder has your shortcut assigned to it.

Now, when you’re in the Finder and need quick access to your Library folder, just type “Option + Shift + Command + L” and the folder automatically opens for you. No more having to hold the Option key to select the menu item.

• Keyboard Scrolling in Lion Application Windows
• SecondBar Puts a Menu Bar on All Your Macs Monitors
• FastScripts 2.6 Update Available from Red Sweater Software

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010): Intermittent black screen or loss of video

Apple has determined that a small number of MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) computers may intermittently stop displaying video on the built-in display or on an external display connected to the MacBook Pro. In this situation, you may also see a restart warning message before the video is lost or the display turns black or gray. Affected computers were manufactured between April 2010 and February 2011.

Via Apple Support

Update: This issue has been addressed with the release of MacBook Pro Video Update 1.0 — but it’s only good if you’re running Lion (10.7.2+). If you choose to remain on Snow Leopard, you should make a Genius Bar appointment at your favorite Apple store to have the problem addressed. Chances are you’ll get a new motherboard out of it. See the support article for more information.

It seems the MacBook Pro/Lion Black Screen of Death™ has not been solved yet has been addressed. The good thing is Apple acknowledges it really is a problem.

I updated my Lion partition to 10.7.2 yesterday, and it seemed more stable than it was before – though I didn’t get much of a chance to really push the system. I was planning to update my production system this evening, but I think I might hold off a little longer until there’s more info from Apple in the article.

Has this bug caused you grief? How have you dealt with it?

• MacBook Pro NVIDIA Recall Extended
• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Yasu and Lion: Compatibility

I’ve started hosting the project on Github, so you can download it directly from there now: https://github.com/jimmitchell/mailplane_css/. Just click on the “Download” button/link on that page.

Questions or bugs, note them in the comments.

• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated
• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated (Again)
• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users

So I threw this little script together instead. The gist is; once launched in the Finder (using FastScripts by Red Sweater naturally. Keystroke: cmd+option+shift+N), a dialog pops up that lets you enter a file title. Then the Finder creates that file in the front-most window. If no window is open, the file is added to your Desktop instead.

I found this to be more than twice as fast as the “traditional” method of making several files. Hopefully it can help you out too. Remember, use it with FastScripts for quick keystroke access. Save as a script in the “Finder” scripts folder (“~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Finder/”).

Here’s the code. Just copy and paste into AppleScript Editor and save as noted…

property defaultFileName : "newFile.txt"
tell me to activate
set theFileName to text returned of (display dialog "Enter a file name:" default answer defaultFileName)
tell application "Finder"
    activate
    if the (count of windows) is not 0 then
        set theFolder to (folder of the front window) as text
        set theFolder to POSIX path of theFolder
    else
        set theFolder to POSIX path of (get path to desktop)
    end if
    set addedFile to (theFolder & theFileName)
    do shell script "touch '" & addedFile & "'"
    if the (count of windows) is not 0 then
        set addedFile to (POSIX file addedFile) as alias
        select addedFile
    end if
end tell

Or, you can just download the compiled script here.

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• Automatically Get Rid of Those Used .zip Archives
• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues

Credit to Dr. Smoke for finding this one.

• Yasu Updated for Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion”
• Yasu Updated to Version 2.7
• Yasu Updated to Version 2.7.3

One thing to note, if you try to update from within Yasu by automatic update and for some reason get an “Update Error – The update is improperly signed” error, then simply download from the Yasu page. I don’t know what’s going on there, but it’s probably something I did changing over to the new Sparkle update engine in the last update.

As always, if anything doesn’t seem right, let me know through my contact form. Use “Yasu & Lion” in the subject line so it catches my attention. Either that, or leave a comment here.

NOTE: I’ve added a “known issues” page for stuff that pops up…

• Yasu Updated to Version 2.7.3
• Yasu and Lion: Compatibility
• Keyboard Scrolling in Lion Application Windows