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Since i always forget when they’re needed… here’s some of the os x boot keys that do stuff

Command-S Boot into Single User Mode
Command-V Boot using “Verbose” mode (shows all kernel and startup console messages)
X Reset startup disk selection and boot into Mac OS X Server
Shift Boot into “Safe Boot” mode, which runs Disk First Aid. A reboot will be required afterward.
Option Boot into Open Firmware to select a boot device
Command-Option-Shift-Delete Bypass internal harddrive on boot
T Boot into Firewire target disk mode
C Boot from the internal optical drive
N Start from the Network (NetBoot)
Command-Option-P-R Reset Parameter RAM (PRAM) and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)
(mouse button) Eject (internal) removable media

ALSO: if you use open firmware password… you’ll need this:
Startup Manager -accessed by pressing the Option key during startup
Enter commands after starting up in Open Firmware -press Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106482

How to troubleshoot a computer with Open Firmware Password enabled
If you cannot access the Open Firmware Password application and need to troubleshoot your computer by:

Resetting the PRAM
Starting up in Single-user mode
Starting up in Verbose mode
Starting from CD-ROM

Then follow these steps:

Start up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.
At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
Press Return.
When prompted for your password, enter it and press the Return key. It responds OK.
At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
Press Return.

The computer restarts and you are now be able to reset the PRAM and startup in Single-user mode, Verbose mode, or from CD-ROM.

To coincide with the recent WWDC conference and Steve Job’s keynote speech, the Leopard website has been updated. The site features a run down of some of the forthcoming features, which include:

• A more 3D based Dock.
• A new Finder, it is pretty much based on the iTunes layout.
• Stacks - This feature stacks multiple folders on top of each other when in the Dock.
• Quick Look - Provides a live preview of the document.
• Spaces - Allows you to switch between workspaces.
• Boot Camp - Installed as default.
• Dynamic Widget Creation - Allows you to create on the fly widgets based on a website’s content.
• Spotlight - Will have the ability to search Macs and PCs on your local network.
• .Mac - The spotlight search is going to extend to Macs outside of your local network.
• iChat - Is set to get a massive facelift on Leopard.
• Time Machine - Back up and recovery software which uses Spotlight and Quick Look.

The keynote speech is available to stream (quicktime of course), it is quite long but worth the watch. I have watched the first hour of the speech which touched on EA Sports and ID Games coming to Mac and of course demonstrated Leopard to the 5000+ audience.
Below is a shorter promtional video which demonstrates some of the above features of Leopard

One thing I didn’t like about the Keynote speech was Apple’s snobbery at Windows again. The opening video footage featured ‘PC’ from the ‘I’m a PC, I’m a Mac’ advert trying to pass himself off as Steve Jobs. PC stated that he is quiting Apple and shutting down the whole company. While the footage was fairly funny it wasn’t really required to be shown to the audience. Below is a cam recording of the footage.

Okay, back to Leopard. It looks amazing. Roll on October.

The stand out features for me include, the dynamic widget creation, workspace and stacks. The Widget feature allows you to highlight any area in a webpage and then ‘grab’ the contents of that area and turns that area into a widget. It’s basically like dynamic RSS. It’s a really imaginative addition. The upgrade to Leopard from Tiger will cost approx <€150. Roll on October.

Other discussions of WDMC 2007

• Paul Watson - WWDC 2007
  
• Johnny Pez - OS X Leopard Preview Page gets an Update
• Boards .ie - WWDC Discussion Thread
  
• Apple Insider Forum - OSX Leopard Preview
• The Apple Blog - Leopard lots of show, little go?

Safari beta 3 is available for public beta from the Safari download page. It is also making an appearance on Windows for the first time. I have just downloaded it and I have to say it’s the fastest rendering browser I have ever used. I actually can’t believe how fast it is.

I’m not too familiar with Safrai’s features as Camino is my browser of choice but I will explore this beta release a bit further. From my early experience there seems to be no major additional features but the speed is very very noticeable.

The download comes as package which includes an uninstaller which will revert to the previous version of Safari when run.

I’m very surprised this has been released before both the iPhone and Leopard. I wonder what features will make it into the final release…? What features would you like to see?

Yojimbo is an application to help you organise all those little but important scraps of information you wish to remember at some point, like passwords, serial numbers and order confirmations.

It stores URLs, web archives, passwords, notes, PDF documents and serial numbers and can encrypt that content. You can enter information by hand, but you can also copy to clipboard what you want to store (say, an URL or serial number) in your e-mail client or browser and press F8.

Yojimbo figures out what you have copied and shows you an entry box where you can change the title and add tags if you want to. It can also store PDF documents. When I receive an order confirmation by mail, or in my browser, I just print it as PDF to Yojimbo. That’s a new option in the standard print dialog.

What I like about Yojimbo is the ease of use, and the integration with Mac OSX. It has a nice interface, it groups by type (Password, Serial Number, …) and you can have “smart folders” based on your tags.

Security also seems pretty good. You can encrypt almost all content, and there is an option which makes it forget the password after a single decryption, or encryption. Though this sounds inconvenient, it allows you to walk away from your Mac for a few minutes without anyone peeking at your passwords.

Yojimbo adds an item to the standard Print dialog, Save PDF to Yojimbo, which immediately adds the item (as pdf) to Yojimbo. Very convenient for purchase confirmation mails or web pages. Web pages can be stored as web archives which don’t change when the website does.

Yojimbo is a commercial application made by BareBones software. They have a nice demo movie accessible via the Help menu, and a 30 day fully functional trial. It’s $39 which I never thought I would pay for such a “simple” application, but I haven’t regretted it yet.

Have a try, and tell me your experiences!

Hi, if you’re reading this post then you are probably new to Apple Macs having migrated from Windows or another rival operating system. Welcome and I hope you enjoy your time at Macblogger

Installing and uninstalling applications on OS X is a very different process from doing so on a Windows system. The first difference is that you can’t install a .exe or a .msi on Mac. Software is installed on Macs using a .dmg file. DMG is an abbreviation for disk image. Macs also use tiny applications called Widgets as well. These guys use the .wdgt file extension. All installations on Mac OS X require the administrative password to be typed into a prompt box before continuing with the installation.

How to Install a Program on your Apple Mac

For the purpose of this post I’m going to install Cabos. an open source file sharing application. I have downloaded the file to my desktop. Simply double click on the cabos.dmg file. A new finder window should pop up, see image below. You might be thinking ‘oh, that was easy and quick’, but the installation is not actually complete. The Cabos MacOSX folder is simply mounted on your hard drive. You should notice a Cabos folder on your desktop. To complete the installation drag and drop the Cabos.app file into the Applications folder. You should hear a soft ‘ding’ noise, this indicates and confirms the completion of the installation. And that is that. Finished.

Not every program installs in the same manner as Cabos has done. Some applications, such as Firefox, pop-up a prompt which is similar to a Finder window. Instructions generally appear which tell you to drag and drop the .app file into the Application folder.

How to set a Program to Automatically Launch at Startup

If you want to have the program load at startup you simply go to

1. System Preference.
2. Accounts.
3. Login Items.
4. From this screen you can add applications by clicking on the ‘+’ symbol.
5. You can set the application to open in full view or to hide it the background.

Cabos might not be the most practical of applications to have started at startup. I have Adium, Skype, Gmail Notifier and Thunderbird all set to startup at this moment.

How to Uninstall a Program on your Apple Mac

This is pretty simple as well. Open up the Applications Folder in Finder and drag and drop the application’s folder or the .app file into the recycle bin located on the Dock. If you accidentally dumped an application then open up the receycle bin and recover the file(s).

Mac OS X doesn’t have the best uninstall procedure in place. It is not certain that files associated with the installed application will be deleted by simply dropping the .app file into the recycle bin. It’s best to use a third party application such as Clean App or App Delete or to remove all the files associated with the installation from your Mac’s hard drive.

What better way to open your first macBlogger post than with an awkward attempt at a pun?

Parallels Desktop version 3.0 has just been officially released. The desktop virtualisation solution that allows you to run OS X and Windows (or some other operating system) side-by-side on your mac, has been under the spotlight quite a lot recently - not least because there have been free copies attached to Mac sales at a number of retail outlets in Ireland and elsewhere.

For anyone who has found themselves with a shiny new copy, or is considering forking out for the privilege of experiencing the best of “both” worlds, Web Worker Daily has written this comprehensive outline of the new version. There is a free 15-day trial available when you download the software here.

Apple have began the advertising campaign which they hope will see iPhone go from shop window into your jean’s pocket.

I have to congratulate Apple on the adverts they have released to date. They are exactly how ads should be. Informative, short and simple. Each of the three adverts actually demonstrate the iPhone in use.

It’s a far cry from their ‘I’m a PC, I’m a Mac’ campaign which was only successful in further portraying Apple users as snooby gits who look down their nose at Windows users.

Anyway, enough of that. Here is the first advert:

The touch screen looks amazing. The functionality looks unreal. The features, well, they are feature rich. Add Zoolander and Hansel (he is hot like a hot cross bun) into the mix and wham!, you have a product which I didn’t really care for up until now. This advert below illustrates the phone’s capabilities more than the one above:

There is a third advert which demonstrates the use of the GPS and Map software available on the iPhone. That looks really cool.

I know what you’re saying, ‘Bah, I want one, when is this thing coming out already’. Ken blogged of a release date of the 29th of June but I would presume that’s a US date as no arrangements have been made with European carriers.

The iPhone is set to enter the EU market in and about the €550 mark. Is it worth it? Probably not. I’m personally going to wait until maybe until the third iteration. Apple aren’t going to get it spot on from the get-go and that price above will probably be halved within 18 months of its release. As a rule I generally never buy brand new technology, but the iPhone is tempting..

Are you going to get an iPhone?

The recently released Image Upload Widget allows you to nearly effortlessly upload images from your desktop without having to visit Image Shack.

Using the Image Upload widget is a fairly straightforward process. Simply locate the picture file that you wish to upload, click and begin dragging it with your cursor, and while continuing to hold down your mouse button, bring up your dashboard - by default, by pressing the F12 key. Drag the picture file so that it is above the Image Upload widget’s drop container, then release the mouse button to drop the file onto the widget. You image will be promptly uploaded to Image Shack, and depending on the preferences you have set on the widget’s back-side, the direct link to the image will either remain intact, or be converted into a TinyURL, before being copied to your pasteboard

And if that’s a bit confussing there is a demonstration of the widget in action is available on their website.

It’s a neat little widget for those who want to upload a single image in a hurry. But it doesn’t scale at all and there is no synchronization with any accounts. For the immediate future, Flickr with their dashboard widget are miles ahead on both features and service. Image Upload Widget is still a nice addition and I’m sure it will evolve over time..

JSM is an open source application developed by an Irish Mac user which allows you send SMS text messages from the comfort of your desktop. Their page on Source Forge explains all you need to know..

JSMS is a FREE open source program which lets you send text messages to any Irish mobile phone using your mobile operator webtext account. Now supports Meteor.ie Vodafone.ie & O2.ie! You can leave the program open all the time on your PC.

You must have a valid Meteor, O2 or Vodafone Ireland phone number and password to use this sms tool.

I’m going to setup my Meteor account later this evening to test out this neat little application.  JSM also works on Windows and Linux. It is developed in Java.

Download JSM

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