Homebrew says my Python installation could cause issues and I'm not sure what to do I'm just getting started with web development and I'm trying to set up my environment, and I can't do that until Dr Homebrew has discharged me from N00bcake Hospital. This is what I'm getting:

Warning: "config" scripts exist outside your system or Homebrew directories.
`./configure` scripts often look for *-config scripts to determine if
software packages are installed, and what additional flags to use when
compiling and linking.

Having additional scripts in your path can confuse software installed via
Homebrew if the config script overrides a system or Homebrew provided
script of the same name. We found the following "config" scripts:

  /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python-config
  /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2-config
  /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7-config

Warning: Python is installed at /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework

Homebrew only supports building against the System-provided Python or a
brewed Python. In particular, Pythons installed to /Library can interfere
with other software installs.

I'm worried because I already have a working installation of Python which is a good enough algorithm playground, and I don't want to leave my framework worse than it was before, but I reckon I should do what Homebrew says if I want to continue. Should I just run $ rm -f /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework and call it a day or is there something else I must do? $ python --version && python3 --version returns

Python 2.7.6
Python 3.3.2

and $ brew --config returns

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 0.9.5
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew.git
HEAD: 1304a2b29a3de5da2b31e1656bf772eea2a78dc1
Last commit: 5 hours ago
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /usr/local
HOMEBREW_CELLAR: /usr/local/Cellar
CPU: dual-core 64-bit core2
OS X: 10.6.8-i386
Xcode: 4.2
CLT: N/A
GCC-4.2: build 5666
LLVM-GCC: build 2336
Clang: 3.0 build 211
X11: 2.7.7 => /opt/X11
System Ruby: 1.8.7-p249
Perl: /usr/bin/perl
Python: /usr/local/bin/python => /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7
Ruby: /usr/bin/ruby => /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby
Java: 1.6.0_65

which brings up another odd thing: I was certain my processor was a 32 bit Intel Core Duo and that's why I couldn't update my OS, but this says dual-core 64-bit core2. What is going on?

When I run brew doctor the first bit of output says this:

Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry and just ignore them. Thanks!

Followed by a warning similar to yours about config files that brew can see which are part of an Anaconda Python install.  So, if you're not having any problems, you shouldn't feel too bad about taking their advice and just ignoring the warning.

However, the reason that you're getting the warnings is because the MacPython install process added a symlink in /usr/local/bin/ to it's Python directory under /Library/Frameworks/....  There's nothing wrong with this per se, but, as you've found, it's always possible that it could conflict with assumptions made by other stuff that uses /usr/local/bin/ (e.g., Homebrew).

You might want to look into virtualenv as a way of managing your Python development environments in general.  I haven't given this much thought, but I'd be tempted to remove those links that MacPython put in /usr/local/bin/ and create a virtualenv that points to whichever MacPython version you want to use for a particular project.


Connection very slow on Mavericks I have a Macbook Pro middle 2010. I had Mountain Lion till yesterday when I decided that today I would have "upgraded" to Mavericks.

With Mountain Lion everything worked fine until 5am tonight when I last used the wifi on that operating system.

So I backed up few files that I really needed and made a clean installation of the operating system. Everything went exceptionally fine and In a matter of an hour I found myself logging in into Mavericks.

Everything else works fine (as far as I can tell) but downloads and everything that it has to do with the internet connection is very very slow. The symptoms are:

Downloads started from browser often don't start on a lot of websites (Minecraft.com, Utorrent.com, etc). They are shown as they going with 0Kb/s for an hour or so). This happens with both wifi and ethernet connection.
YouTube videos refuse to load (the page loads, but the video stream is stopped at the beginning and doesn't go any further, ever) with wifi and loads very slowly with the ethernet connection.
Minecraft updates or dropbox synchronization are very very slow (takes hours to update few files or download the recent snapshot) even with a 7MB/s connection.
Speedtest.net says I have a download speed of 5Mbps and a ping of 72ms.
The Stack Overflow chat works very badly. Messages are synchronized slowly within long periods of time and messages sent by me are shown 2 times or shown in green (which means they were not really sent).
The Wi-Fi connection doesn't give me any error messages, and generally no particular messages are shown at all.
In Safari downloads start but they don't go faster than 2Kb/s.

In the meantime here's the status of uTorrent:

And here's the status detected by Speedtest.com:

I've never had any of such problem earlier. I can recognize that there's a 5% chance that these problems are something else related, but to be realistic, I'm pretty sure that it is Mavericks or something linked to it.

How do I fix these problems?

It happened that the last update (OS X 10.9 (13A603)) solved this issue on my Macbook Pro 13' of mid 2010.


How do I change the default alarm sound when creating an alarm with Siri? I picked a song for an alarm and now every  alarm that I create with Siri uses that song. I cannot change the default alarm song back to the default alarm sound. When I need to create an alarm manually I can see the default alarm sound, but every single time I  create an alarm with Siri then it reverts back to that one song. It's impossible to change the default alarm sound that Siri uses. I'm using iOS 10.2.

I had the same issue. Did a hard reset (power and volume down until the Apple logo appeared. That'd be power and home button for all other non-7 devices.) It fixed the problem. It was driving me absolutely crazy.


Migration Assistant from Carbon Copy backup? My Mac has died and I'm considering whether to fix and restore to the same hardware or get a new one and import data.

The TL;DR: Do you know if Migration Assistant will take a bootable external disk with the data as source?

The long story:

I have a fairly recent Carbon Copy backup of my data (on El Capitan), but if I get a new Mac it'll be running Sierra, so restoring the HD would be a no-no. Also, it would be a good moment to get a "clean" OS baseline to work from, as long as I don't have to go back and reinstall everything.

I know that Migration Assistant can take a disk image file, but I'm not so sure if it'll be able to read a external HD as source?

You can select a drive in Migration Assistant.  That is how I transferred my old system to my new one.  I simply mounted the drive of my old system on my new system, and then was able to select it as my migration source.


How can I stop sound switching to internal if I close the lid on my MacBook while playing video on HDMI-connected TV If I connect an HDMI cable to my MacBook (mid-2010 white model, Mavericks 10.9.2) and play a video, then the audio comes out of the TV - so far so good.

If I then close the lid while the video is playing, the TV screen flickers a bit but then continues playing, but the audio starts coming out of the internal speakers.

Is there any way to stop this and force the MacBook to continue to play via the HDMI when that's the only screen in use?

Extra Info: re-opening the lid doesn't switch audio back to TV but all settings suggest the TV is the selected audio output device. If I pause the video, THEN switch to internal speakers and back to TV, audio will be back to TV if/when I restart the video playback.

You didn't mention what media player you're using.

Personally I use VLC Media Player. With VLC you can explicitly set the audio device in the menubar > audio > Audio Device > HDMI, in your case. I use VLC in conjunction with NoSleep to close my laptop while playing media. The screen turns off when I close the lid, but the computer stays awake. The brightness button also will step/dim down to "display off" on my laptop. I usually opt to do it this way instead of closing the lid all the way so as to be able to pause and play and also to keep the laptop from getting hot. Not sure if an older model like yours will do that, do let me know.


Skype is online all the time? I have an iPhone 4, and one of their recent updates added an 'always online' feature, where the user can receive messages even if Skype isn't open on their device.

Lately I've been using Skype on my desktop PC, and any message sent to me also appears on my iPhone, and it gets a bit annoying after a while.
Skype for iPhone has no settings, and I've turned off all notifications for Skype in the iOS notification centre, but however I still get notifications of the messages that I receive on Skype.

I've looked briefly for a solution to this, but I can't find anything specific to my usage case.
Two questions:

Can Skype notifications for new messages be switched off on my iPhone- Switching all notifications off for Skype does not do anything.
Is it possible to stop it from showing me as Online all the time? It's inconvenient because I recieve business messages when I'm trying to sleep, and I require to be contactable 24/7 so I can be contacted by my customers if they have a fault with their gameserver (I offer gameserver hosting)- but being able to IM me 24/7 isn't what I want.

You may want to set your status to Offline. Or remove Skype app from the running task list (double-tap on Home, switch into Skype area and swipe to the top to get rid of it).

If that won't work and it changes back to Online, this potentially could happen when you're logged into your account multiple times from different devices, so the statuses could be not in sync.

For workaround there are some cloud-based chat commands which allows you to see where you're logged in and you can logout from the remote sessions.

Create an empty conversation.
Type command in the message textbox:

/showplaces

  Lists other endpoints that can receive push notifications for calls and IMs for this Skype account.

If you want to logout from remote online endpoints, then execute:

/remotelogout

  Sign out all other instances except the current one. This will also stop push notifications on all other instances.

Other workaround could include changing your Skype password to make remote Skype clients sign out.


command + tab or clicking on any app in dock opens all windows of that application command  + tab or clicking on any app in dock opens all windows of that application (except those which are minimised)

I started experiencing this recently, around 2 weeks back

Earlier, if I pressed command + tab click on any app icon in the doc, it would only open the latest active window of that application. But now, it opens all the windows of that app and bring all windows to front.

Is this behaviour expected?

If I'm working with two application Chrome and Finder and I've 5 finder windows opened. It's very frustrating if I Command + Tab and want to go to the latest finder window as it opens all windows and not just the latest one

cmd-Tab in macOS always works like this. It switches apps instead of windows, and all non-minimized windows of the app in current desktop will popup.

alt-Tab in MS Windows switches windows.

Personally I like the behavior of MS Windows. If you want this behavior, you might check something like HyperSwitch.


Firefox on MacOS: Default filename when downloading When downloading from Firefox on MacOS, I would like the filename to be prefixed by the ISO-date (YYYY-MM-DD-original-filename.extension). This can be achieved with a folder action in the downloads folder, but I want it to be in all folders, so a folder action is not an ideal solution.

If possible I'd like all new files to have the prefix, regardless of the creating app.

Is this possible?

My solution was to make an Automator workflow to run a shell script, and map it to a universal keyboard shortcut. This has been very useful to me, so here it is:

# echo `date +"%Y-%m-%d "` + " "
A=`date +%F`
echo "$A "

Open Automator and create new workflow.

Set workflow to receive text from any application, choose to replace the selected text and add Run Shell Script. Choose /bin/bash and pass input to stdin. Paste the script and save.

Go to System Preferences, choose Keyboard and Shortcuts. Choose Services, find yours on the list and map a shortcut.


ScriptEditor application signed but not accepted by Gatekeeper I created a small AppleScript app to launch a webservice locally using the built-in PHP webserver. It's an interface to generate XML configurations.

Since macOS Sierra those apps are moved to the AppTranslocation directory if they are not signed. I just became an Apple Developer to be able to export the script from Script Editor.app as an app, signed with my Application Developer ID. Yet, when I push everything to Github and download the package as a zip file, the signed app is still executed from the AppTranslocation directory. What might be the issue here?

Consider distributing your application within a code signed disk image, dmg, file. The contents of a code signed disk image are not subject to “Gatekeeper Path Randomization” (GPR).

See How do I create a nice-looking DMG for Mac OS X using command-line tools? for a guide to creating a disk image.


How do I get the Terminal command files (.command files) ask for words? I'm making a command, but there is no way to get the command files (known as .command files) to ask for words.
like confirmations such as:
Continue to make directory? y/n

And commands use to confirm and ask.

.command scripts run in Terminal windows (that is, when you double-click a .command file, it opens a Terminal window, and you can use that window to interact with the script). You can use that to prompt the user and get input; exactly how you do that depends on the scripting language you're using (which is determined by the shebang (starts with #!) line at the beginning of the script. In bash, you'd do something like:
#!/bin/bash

read -p "Continue to make directory? y/n " makedir
if [[ "$makedir" = [Yy] ]]; then
    mkdir somedirectory
fi

In zsh, the syntax for adding a prompt to the read command is different, and it has a -q option specifically for y/n questions (that succeeds if the answer is "y" or "Y", and can be used directly in an if):
#!/bin/zsh

if read -q "makedir?Continue to make directory? y/n "; then
    mkdir somedirectory
fi

In other languages, you'd do... whatever you do in that language to prompt for and accept input.


Where does iPhoto'11 store its photos? Does it work like Aperture and store files in its own directory? If so, where is this?  I'm debating on dropping Aperture to save space on my hard drive, so want to know how iPhoto works before I switch.

Thanks

iPhoto stores its Library in your User-Directory.

The Path: ~/Pictures/

Right-Click on the Package, and then select "Show Package Contnet" to view your pictures!

Or, right-Click on a picture in iPhoto, and select "Show in Finder"


Do Apple brick-and-mortar stores carry the iMac with built-in VESA Mount Adapter? If not, what does apple do to aid & prevent the pain of using their products?

from Increasing height of 27" iMac

I initially flagged this question to be "Off Topic", but in the US, you can order on-line and pick up at your local Apple Store. There may be a delay, but it is possible:


View PDF in Preview in Full Screen? Is there any way to view a PDF in Preview in Full Screen? Quick Look works, but it doesn't have the 'remembering the page you were looking at' feature that I like.


Task switching on iOS 4.3.1? I just upgraded my iPod (4gen) from iOS 4.3 to 4.3.1.  Pressing the button twice now no longer brings up the app switcher.

Is there some setting I need to change to bring this back?  I didn't see anything in the release notes about removing or disabling this feature.

I played around with it for a few minutes, and eventually it went back to the old mode where task switching works.  I have no idea why, and I didn't change any setting.

It's not just the speed: I've never had trouble getting task switching to work, and for the first 10 minutes after upgrading, it didn't work no matter how fast I clicked it.  It would zip over to the useless search screen and back really fast.


How captive.apple.com is used by non-Apple devices? Every time, I try to use my hotel's WiFi network, at some point of loging-in to it, I see that my browser (or WiFi connection pop-up) is redirecting through serie of websites, among which I can clearly see http://captive.apple.com/.

The thing is that I have absolutely nothing in common with any Apple-like device, because:

I'm using either PC and Windows 7 (with Chrome) or Android device (with WiFi pop-up),
I'm pretty sure that neither my hotel network's router nor any of its components isn't build up based on Apple device, simply due to costs (non-Apple-based solutions are cheaper, I think).

This answer and this question roughly explains (to a non-Apple user, like me), what this site or service is used for. But, the question remains: What it has to do with non-Apple devices or how such devices can be using it (how or why non-Apple device can be using Apple-like service)?

Source:

  Most hotspots implement customer interaction by using a captive portal, which is a restricted network connection in which all client HTTP requests are redirected to the provider’s web site. The web site can then prompt users to agree to the operator’s terms and conditions, enter payment information, or enter credentials to verify prior payment arrangements.

Apple hosts a landing page and makes a synthetic call to this when you join a network to test if the network is captive. Other vendors have similar portal detection hosts like www.msftncsi.com to detect captive networks, that's all.

It doesn't matter if the device you're using is a Mac, iPhone, Pixel, or Windows. The "Apple" part is only because they made it much easier for companies to offer wifi to their customers.


If I add an SSD to a non-retina MBP 13" will weight drop to 3.5 lbs I'm shopping for a new computer for university, and I'm considering the MBP 13". I don't do graphic intensive work, so I do not need the retina display. It's not worth the extra cash. However, because I'm constantly carrying around my computer and turning it on and off, I want an ultrabook: something light and fast to boot. I'm thinking of buying the 13" non-retina MBP, but selecting the 256 mb SSD option instead of the HD option. If I do that, of course, apple will drop the HD and optical drive from the machine. Will that get the weight down to 3.57 lbs? If so, it might be a cost effective way for me to get the machine I'm looking for.

Thanks.

If you upgrade the 13" non-retina MBP to a 256 GB SSD, that only saves you $100 vs. a retina MBP with the same 256 GB SSD ($1599 vs. $1699).

Furthermore, the non-retina MBP will still have the optical drive no matter what (you can't configure it without one). So the only difference in weight will be the difference between the SSD and traditional HDD, whatever that is (I suspect not much, since Apple's own tech specs only say "actual weight varies by configuration").

The 13" MacBook Air is a much better fit for what you're looking for: lower price ($1299), much lower weight (2.96 lbs).


good dictionary which support text to speech or real voice pronunciation? I have just switch to a mac recently. Trying to find some thing equivalent to Babylon on windows but haven't found any.

I wonder if are there any good dictionary software which support real voice pronunciation or at least text-to-speech? Other functions like one-click translation is also necessary.

OSX has a built in speech synthesizer which is quite good if you're looking for English pronunciation.

You can open up the terminal and enter the following command:

say "Hello! How are you?"

For dictionary I use the Dictionary application which is shipped with your OS as well. You can import multiple dictionary files into it. Here is a tutorial to do that.

The best part is that you can type ⌘ + ctrl + d to bring up the inline dictionary in cocoa applications. It's really handy.


How can I find what is making my Mac run hotter and causing the fans to run more often? My Macbook Pro's fans are running louder. I've also noticed that the average internal temperature is significantly higher. (187°F as I write this.) This didn't used to happen unless I was running full-screen video or recording multitrack audio. I've made no other changes to the computer that I can remember.

Recently, I turned on Spaces, and I thought that perhaps leaving these open was running the processor more heavily, creating more heat. But turning Spaces back off didn't help.

How can I see what background processes are running? Is there a way to track this down?

You can use Activity Monitor to view all the processes running on your Mac at any time. If you prefer to use the terminal, you can use top.


Microsoft Office 2004 reinstall? I bought a used iMac with OS 10.4.11 installed. It also has Microsoft Office 2004 on it.  I'd like to upgrade the OS to 10.6 but don't want to lose the Microsoft Office applications. I do not have the original disks or any codes, serial numbers, etc to reinstall Office 2004.  Is there any way I can accomplish the OS upgrade without losing Microsoft Office? I was hoping to transfer to an external HD and then transfer it back after I upgrade the OS.

Make a good backup in case anything goes wrong, but if you install Mac OS X Snow Leopard using the default options, applications previously installed will remain in place with licenses intact.

One particular issue facing Microsoft Office 2004 under Snow Leopard is that Office 2004 is a PPC app, and thus requires Rosetta to run under Snow Leopard. Rosetta is not included by default in a Snow Leopard install, but rather needs to be included in the list of checkboxed items when you get the list of what components to install.

For more details about the Snow Leopard install process, you can read this article from Macworld.


How to import my data from Android into my new iPhone? I recently changed my phone (it was an Android smartphone) to a new iPhone 7. I want to export and import a lot of files from my Android device to my iPhone but I do not know how to proceed. I have already tried it manually but it is a long and tiring job. What is a faster method?

You can use Apple's official Move to iOS app, available on Google Play. This automatically moves the content you select from your Android phone to your iPhone. Install the app on your Android device and follow the instructions.

Move from Android to iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


How to tile floating windows In the application I write in (Ableton Live), there are always several floating windows open. ("Floating" in the OSX sense: ^F6 toggles through them).

I use them so often that I need a way to tile them, so that they maximize screen space.

The issue is that they're always different sizes, so their dimensions would have to be detected in order to be properly tiled.

I've looked many places and no luck. Mosaic, Divvy etc only work with regular windows, not floating windows. There must be a solution somewhere.

Would LOVE some help on this!

Regards,
Nathan

First off, this assumes you're talking about panels (e.g. Preview's Info window), the kind that sometimes hide when you switch to a different app.

Also, do you want to tile all your windows, or only some of them?

If you want to tile all of them, Amethyst is a good solution. It's open source; I don't know if it supports those panels, but it should be possible to add support if it doesn't.

If you only want to mess with a few of your windows, Spectacle is better. It's also open source, and does seem to support panels.


How do I recover Game Center password if it's different then my Apple ID password? How do I recover Game Center password if its different then my Apple ID password. This for my sons iPod, he created this account for his games but cant remember the password. I tried the forgot password option thinking it would reset it for him but it didnt since he has his own password for it. How do we find the password he created?

This is a common confusion point.

All apple accounts are AppleID and you can/should first go try to reset or recover the password for each account at https://iforgot.apple.com

Any use of Apple accounts on iOS (messages, FaceTime, game center, app store, iCloud) are necessarily first AppleID accounts - so mixing several of these on one device can cause a little confusion on which password belongs to which.

There is no Game Center account or password retrieval (nor any other account) other than the main iforgot page. You can go in and check your AppleID and learn more at https://appleid.apple.com


SockPathMode - what is it? I have a plist installed on my system with the following in it:

<dict>
  <key>SockPathMode</key>
  <integer>438</integer>

man launchd.plist tells me:

SockPathMode <integer>
This optional key specifies the mode of the socket.

I haven't been able to find a list of modes and I haven't heard of 438 different modes either! If anyone can shed some light on what this key and value is really about I'd be very grateful.

The integer in the key SockPathMode is the decimal presentation of the octal POSIX permissions of the UNIX socket.

Converter: 438 > 0666 > file permissions: rw-rw-rw- (owner, group and anyone is allowed to read and write from/to the socket.


Can I hot-plug a DVI monitor in a Mac Pro? I have a Mac Pro with a DVI display, and I got a new DVI display for it.

I want to unplug the (only) display, and plug in the new display to that DVI port.  And/or, unplug the existing display, and plug it into a DVI port on another (slower) graphics card.  (Does that make sense?)

I've hot-swapped DVI displays on Mac laptops for years, but I've never done it with a Mac desktop.  Will a Mac be cool with temporarily having zero displays?

Absolutely!  At work we have multiple Mac Pro's that have 1 monitor between them hot-swapped and while there's up to 5 seconds of delay for the video to come through, it works great.

You can hot-swap displays, but not video cards - if that makes sense.


OSX Mail - Folder Locations In OSX mail, I have a number of different mailbox types - iCloud, Google Apps, and Exchange. For whatever reason, the Exchange mailbox displays the folders underneath the mailbox list at the top (see picture). iCloud and Google Apps do not do this (both are IMAP). Is there a reason for this? Any way to change that behavior?

On iCloud/Google Apps you didn’t create the folders under “Inbox”, and so they appear further down in the pane you’ve screenshotted.

On the Exchange server you did create folders under the “Inbox”, and therefore that is where Mail.app displays them.

On my Zoho (IMAP account), I can either use the web client to create folder under the Inbox, or use Mail.app by ctrl+click on the Inbox I want to create a folder under and selecting “New mailbox...”, in the window that appears prefix the Name of the folder you want to create with “Inbox/” e.g. Inbox/foo.
I tried the above on my iCloud account, but it didn’t seem to work.


How do I open a new tab in Mobile Safari? How do I open a new browser window? Right now I have Safari. I apparently need to get another browser for some complicated reason just to post a moving gif. As you can probably tell, I'm not great with computers and especially my iPhone 6 which at the moment is the only thing I have in use. It still baffles me though that this little problem should be so hard to solve, I've already asked two people and read a lot of instructions on the Internet that seem so vague. I just can't seem to wrap my head around how it's done and I would love to know how. Can someone give me a "dumbed down" set of instructions for this?

Take a look at below screens. Two steps, two arrows. Press double square to open tabs and then + to open new tab.


Spaces makes dialogs disappear I'll be working in a space, and then something starts bouncing in the dock (like Mail), so I switch to that space, and I see a dialog for a split second, but then it disappears.  I try moving the main window, to see if the dialog went behind it or something, but it isn't there.  While I can move the main window, I cannot interact with it because the dialog is modal.  If I switch to a different space then I see the dialog again for just a split second.

Eventually if I switch spaces enough times the dialog will stop disappearing.  I haven't found any pattern that works reliably.  Another solution is to disable spaces, close the dialog, and then enable spaces and move everything back to the correct windows again.

It is rather annoying.  It happens with multiple applications too.  I've tried selecting the application by clicking on it in the dock, or switching to the space, and I get the same behavior.

The question is: Is there an easy way to get to the dialog box, or to keep spaces from doing this?  Thanks!

A bit better of a workaround is to hide the app with the dialog, then showing it again. That typically puts the dialog on top of the z axis, I noticed. Still annoying. The OS-X window manager is the worst PoS I've ever worked with. And just because Steve "believes" in the 1983 Mac window policy...


How can I edit Address Book distribution lists? In Snow Leopard there was a way to select which address to use for each contact in a group, for sending group emails or printing address lists. This was done by selecting the group in the groups column and choosing Edit → Edit Distribution List…

In the (horrible) Lion Address Book, the feature is still in the Edit menu, but I can't figure out why it's always dimmed. What are the circumstances when this menu item should become available, or how can I choose the addresses for my contact groups in Lion?

Only local groups (appearing in On My Mac) support distribution lists. This feature won't work if you're only using Exchange, a CardDAV server, or iCloud.

Here's a cnet article about this, with regard to iCloud: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20126108-263/address-book-distribution-list-editor-disabled-by-icloud/


How to run httpd on macOS without Apache I'm trying to build a BCHS application. I do have a remote server running OpenBSD, but the network latency is killing me, so I decided to develop on my MacBook Air and deploy to the OpenBSD server later.

I haven't installed Apache yet (and don't think I'll need it), but httpd seems to be a built-in utility of macOS.

~
❯ httpd -v
Server version: Apache/2.4.28 (Unix)
Server built:   Oct  9 2017 19:54:20

I tried to start httpd with the following methods, but they didn't work:

❯ launchctl enable httpd
Unrecognized target specifier. <service-target> takes a form of <domain-target>/<service-id>.
Please refer to `man launchctl` for explanation of the <domain-target> specifiers.
Usage: launchctl enable <service-target>

~
❯ launchctl start httpd

~
❯ launchctl list | grep httpd

~
❯ httpd
(13)Permission denied: AH00072: make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:80
(13)Permission denied: AH00072: make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:80
no listening sockets available, shutting down
AH00015: Unable to open logs

TL;DR

I want to launch httpd as a daemon. How do I do that?

There is a LaunchDaemon service for Apache in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons, org.apache.httpd.plist. You can load it using:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

Obviously you'll need to configure httpd.conf appropriately first.

The -w should set the .plist's Disabled key to false so it will start on boot.

NOTE: load is classified as a legacy sub-command of launchctl but still works in High Sierra. I attempted to start Apache with sudo launchctl enable system/org.apache.httpd but it didn't seem to do anything, possibly because I have no idea how to use enable. :P

DOUBLE NOTE: Apache needs elevated privileges, hence nothing happening when you just ran httpd. sudo httpd will work but again configure it first.


App Store purchases and updates I've been having this problem for a few days.

Recently I switched my App Store country region from India to Canada. All my past app purchases and downloads were erased. I then downloaded some apps that I had already downloaded through the Indian Store. These apps were not added to my purchases. I am unable to review them therefore.

Also, a popup for software update keeps showing up but when I check for updates I cannot see any updates.

I'm using an iPhone SE.

Usually users can switch their App Store region by logging out of their Apple ID for one region and then signing in with their Apple ID for the other region. All downloads will still remain on the iPhone and should not be erased. So why were your past purchases erased? Did you do this or did it just happen?

When app updates appear, the only updates you can download are for apps you downloaded with the Apple ID you're currently signed into. So this means having to regularly sign in and out of your Apple IDs.

This is what I mean. If you downloaded app X from the Indian store and you are signed in to the Apple ID for the Canadian store, the App Store app will still tell you that an update is available for app X. But downloading that update won't work unless you sign out of the Canadian Apple ID and then sign back into the Indian Apple ID. That's why it is better to just delete app X and redownload it using the Canadian ID as that meas it will be listed as a purchase for that ID. But if app X cost money then you don't want to do this because you don't want to pay for it again.

What you should do is delete any apps from the Indian store that are freebies and then download them again with your new Canadian Apple ID. This way you only have to change back to the old Indian Apple ID when you have to update an app that you paid for as you wouldn't want to have to pay for it again.

Does this answer your question?


Apple Music - How to automatically save everything that it added to My Music? I would like to know if there's a way in which every time I add a song or album into "My Music", it is saved in the device automatically, without selecting the option "Save for Offline".

I've written a short blog post explaining how to do this.

You create a smart playlist with a single rule which checks if the iCloud Status equals Apple Music. Check the Make Available Offline setting for this playlist and all Apple Music songs/albums will be automatically downloaded when you add them to your library.


How to show open tabs on other devices on Mac Safari? I want to show open tabs on other devices that share the same Apple and iCloud account, but for some reasons there is no open tab on Mac Safari when I click the top-right icon (the icon of two tabs overriding).
On my iPhone and iPad I can access the tabs opened on my Mac, but the other direction is not true. How can I open the tabs opened on iOS devices on Mac or maybe is it just a bug?

UPDATE
I found out that sometimes the tabs appear properly whereas other times they don't.
UPDATE 2
This might be a bug, but I think 60~80% of the time the tabs don't appear. I upgraded to macOS 11.1 but the problem still persists. Any workaround would be appreciated.

Clearly a bug. Im guessing the bug is in iCloud.
Apple's documentation says it should work the way you were doing it:
https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT202530


What terminal command shows the type of display that I have on my MacBook Pro? What terminal command shows the type of display that I have on my MacBook Pro?  I used the following command in terminal and it didn't work:

ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*

ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

Depending on the string that comes up it will tell you the manufacturer of the display. It will not display in plain text.

Assuming you have a Retina display, a string with LP in it means it's an LG.


Install and print from two identical printers on iMac? I have two Dymo label printers. I tried installing the printer using CUPS web admin as well as the Print & Scan under System Preferences. Both printers installed fine. When I print from either the print jobs are sent to only one of the two. The purpose of two printers is to avoid the constant changing of label sizes.

If it helps: my goal is to have two printers available. One prints large labels. The other prints small labels. When i go to print, I am able to choose which printer to print from.

Dymo label drivers are quite picky and ask that you not connect the devices until the installer asks specifically for the device to be connected. I believe that is to prevent both queues going to the first device in the USB chain, but I don't have two to test with.

I would delete both printer definitions and start with the installer from here:

https://dymo.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/101/~/dymo-drivers-and-downloads#lw_mac

The read me has the following caution:

  NOTE: Do not connect the USB cable to your computer or USB hub until
  instructed to do so during the software installation. If you have a
  label printer already installed, disconnect the USB cable from your
  computer before running the installer and reconnect the cable when
  instructed to do so.

So you could try deleting only one queue and then disconnecting the printer that printed from the other queue and try setting up the second printer again.


What is the use of a clean OS (Lion) install? My machine is a iMac8,1 (24", early 2008) that I bought with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard installed. My question is: what are all the benefits and drawbacks of performing a clean operation system (OS) install? Specifically a clean Lion install in contrast to an incremental upgrade plan.

What I already know:

Upgrading to Snow Leopard and subsequently to Lion was easy and without loss of any data. I am aware of obsolete clutter being automatically removed in the processes (mostly PowerPC support), however, I can imagine that some is still present, e.g. Leopard and Snow Leopard system files that are now obsolete. They unnecessarily occupy space.
Another arbitrary advantage of a clean install has more to do with ‘personal hygene’: old (third party) programs that I haven't used (and associated files) won't be re-installed.
A third and last benefit of a clean install has to do with the physical space the OS occupies on the hard disk drive (HDD). Since the OS is practically the first thing on the disk it occupies the (faster) outer ‘rings’ of the HDD. That makes the OS faster than if it would occupy the inner rings. I presume that happens in the incremental upgrade as I did.

What are other advantages and disadvantages of a clean install? And are there any gaps or inconsistencies in what I already know?

There are no disadvantages to a clean installation. But the return on Lion has been severely culled due to Apple's decision to prevent any kind of modification to the OS. With previous OS X builds, users were able to select (and deselect) packages (such as printer drivers, extended languages, etc.) during the installation process. Lion brings everything and the kitchen sink.

The ability to trim away parts of OS X was probably the most compelling reason to perform a clean install (saving GB of space).

Your notion of how hard drives work isn't accurate. There's no "prime" location for data, outer ring or inner ring. So long as the files are contiguous, your data will be delivered optimally. Access times depend on rotation latency (speed at which the disks spin, calculated in RPM) and seek times (the time it takes the head to reach the desired location to reach the file), although density plays a role too, by packing more bits of data per region (thus increasing throughput).

Moreover, OS X handles the defragementation of small files on a regular basis, ensuring continued performance over time. It's also of note that such things are gone by way of using SSDs.

Lastly, clean installations may also reduce bugs introduced by updates. While OS X is quite resilient, updates can introduce new bugs into the system. Often times, Apple technicians will request a clean installation and applying only the latest subsequent update in an attempt to isolate bugs (rather than upgrade from a previous version of the OS and then applying a slew of incremental updates). These problems are however quite rare.


iCloud Active. for iPhone 5s I want to buy a iPhone from Mercari. It's in great condition but it says "no iCloud Active". Does anyone know what this refers to?

This is a good thing, it means that you are free to add your own iCloud account. To add more information, having it linked to someone elses iCloud account is a really really bad thing. When I used to work for Apple, we would get calls from people who thought they got a great deal but when they tried to upgrade to iOS 7, or use the phone for the first time they found out that the phone was stolen.

Often these were bought at pawn shops.
I don't mean to say that pawn shops traffic in stolen devices, I do mean to say that they lack the sophistication to understand that the previous customer needs to unlock / sign out of their iCloud account. In addition Apple has a policy of never referring to a device as stolen, so even if I was fairly convinced that I was talking to someone who had actually stolen the phone, we left it up to law enforcement to sort this matter  out.

This led to some rather interesting situations that I can't discuss here. I will say that I had customers call who had purchased their device for a major retailer who had taken a return and resold the phone locked to the previous owners account.

For a better understanding of this feature of Apple since iOS 7, look at these links from Apple support.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201365

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441


How to convert iOS backup from 4.0 to 3.x Is there a way to convert an iOS 4 backup to format that was used in iOS 3.
I have an iPhone 3G and iOS 4 runs really slow on it. I have succesfuly downgraded the firmware back to 3.1.3 but now I can't restore data backup because the backup format is only for iOS 4. Any ideas?

Thanks!

No, there is no way to exchange backups for each major versions.

but you can give that a try, first you need to downgrade the firmware, and for the moment you can't downgrade from 4.x to 3.x as it already updated the baseband and there is nothing you can do now unless using hacker tricks that you need to find in specialized forums.

Then after update the device with the firmware, you just chose "restore backup" on your first connection to iTunes and pass the activation (if an iPhone)

Remember one BIG thing:

iPhone 3G runs iOS 4.0 really slow, but iOS 4.1 is sooo much faster! you should upgrade! I did and I was impressed with the speed, though now wife has it as I bought the 4th version of the iPhone.


How to Enable Paste Menu Item in System 7 I recently got a Macintosh Color Classic running System 7.1, and I am trying to move old files off of it. My goal is to copy files from the Macintosh to a floppy drive, then read them from a USB floppy drive on a modern Mac.

The issue I am running into is that the Macintosh Color Classic does not seem to let me paste any files through Finder. The files in question are stored on the internal drive, and when I attempt to paste files to any location from the clipboard, the Paste menu item (under Edit) is unavailable.

I have tried to use keyboard shortcuts (CMD + C and CMD + V). I also let the Macintosh format the disk, in order to avoid any compatibility issues. I am not able to connect the Macintosh to a network, so floppy drives will be my only option. How can I enable the Paste menu item or otherwise copy files to a removable disk?

From comments - just try drag & drop instead.

Whatever limitations System 7 had for copy operations, I really can't recall. It just seems like the simplest workaround ;)


Get out of range error from monitor after rebooting from working monitor config I have a Mac Pro 3,1 w an nVidia 8800 GT running El Capitan.  When I reboot, the monitor shows the apple logo with the progress bar. It then goes blank and the monitor reports an out of range error. If I plug another monitor or the same monitor in to the second DVI port without the other monitor being on, the monitor in question displays the login screen without issue.

I'm confused as to what is going on as when I shutdown the monitor is fine.
Any thoughts as to what is being triggered when I plug in the cable to the second DVI-D port?

I'd try clearing the SMC & NVRAM first…

Power down.
Disconnect all but the monitor with the issue, which I'd plug into the port with the issue.

Reset SMC on a Mac Pro -
Power down. Remove the mains cable from the back for 15 seconds. Press the power button for 15 seconds. Plug back in. Wait another 5 seconds, power on.

Reset NVRAM [do this as it's first powering up from the SMC reset]
At the chimes, hold  Cmd ⌘   Opt ⌥   P   R  until you hear the chimes a second time, then release.

See if you can then get through startup & shutdown twice without seeing the issue.

If all is well, power down & connect the second monitor.

If not, try booting in safe mode & see if there is any change.
At the chimes, hold the  Shift ⇧   key until you see the progress bar.

I've had a couple of Mac Pros over the years, with several different graphics cards. They all seem to get this type of monitor 'memory loss' periodically.


Fonts and Fonts Disabled folders in OS X Mountain Lion In my /Library directory I have two folders of fonts - Fonts, and Fonts Disabled. Would deleting the Fonts Disabled folder cause any issues?

If you're currently having no problems without those fonts, actually deleting them should not cause any problems. The system just ignores the fonts in the folder "Fonts Disabled" so there should be no effect on the system.

Just be careful you don't delete the following fonts:

Keyboard
Geneva
LastResort
Monaco
LucidaGrande
Helvetica

located in /System/Library/Fonts. These fonts are used by the system.
See also http://www.macworld.com/article/1051630/tcofonts.html


built-in isight camera on early 2008 macbook air 1,1 Does the (camera + internal microphone) system use a single internal 2.0 USB interface that connects to logic board?

This seems to be the case according to Wikipedia, and ifixit, even though I cant get 100% sure. Also, is LVDS cable involved here?

Edit: looking at ifixit pictures, from step 19 it seems the internal microphone cable is connected to logic board, while all other input from display (ie. also the USB part from isight) goes through display data cable in step 23

The camera, Bluetooth module, keyboard and trackpad all connect internally via USB. No LVDS cable is required or used by the camera. The internal microphone is connected directly to the audio controller.

Take a look at About This Mac from the Apple menu, go to More Info > System Report, and look at the devices listed in the USB category to see the various device connections.


How do I unlock a .plist file so that I can change it? I want to edit Info.plist for TextEdit. (Here's why.)  I'm running OS 10.7, and I do have Xcode installed.  But every time I try to edit the file, it's locked and I can't save my changes.

If I try to save it with Xcode, Xcode asks if I want to unlock it.  I say "Unlock", but then an error says The file "Info.plist" could not be unlocked."; it says that this is because I do not own it.

If I open Info.plist using vi in Terminal (vi Info.plist), I can't save changes even using :w!.  The error is E212: Can't open file for writing.

How can I make changes to TextEdit's Info.plist file?

Before you do this make sure there are no running instances of TextEdit on your system.

Using The Finder

Select the plist file in the Finder and doing File > Get Info. At the bottom of the file info window you'll see a section called Sharing & Permissions. You want to make sure you're in that list and that you have Read & Write level access to the file.

Before you can add yourself to the access permissions on the file though, you'll need to unlock it. Click the little lock icon (1) in the lower right hand corner and enter your password. If you're not an administrator on the machine, you won't be able to proceed past this step.

Once you've unlocked the file you can change your permissions to Read & Write. If you're not shown in the list of people who can access the file, click the + button below the list and find yourself in the Users & Groups list that pops up.

The changes are applied to the file as soon as you make them in the File Info window.

You should now be able to open, edit and save those edits to the file.

Using The Command Line

Open a Terminal window.

Change to the place where the plist file is located:

cd ~/Library/Preferences/

Change the ownership and permissions on the file so you can read and write it:

sudo chown $USER aomDSP.plist
sudo chmod u+w aomDSP.plist

You probably don't need sudo on the second call there, but it can't hurt. You'll need administrator access to the machine to do this.


Firewall on. I blocked IP 93.184.220.29 with PF but it still popsup in netstat -n The firewall is on. I blocked IP 93.184.220.29 with PF but it still popsup in netstat -n.
How is that possible?

jen:~ jen$ sudo pfctl -t blockedips -T show
Password:
No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
   93.184.220.29

Output of

netstat -n

tcp4       0      0  192.168.2.4.51402      93.184.220.29.80       ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  192.168.2.4.51401      93.184.220.29.80       ESTABLISHED

Output of

 sudo pfctl -s all
Password:
No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
TRANSLATION RULES:
nat-anchor "com.apple/*" all
rdr-anchor "com.apple/*" all

FILTER RULES:
scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" all fragment reassemble
anchor "com.apple/*" all
block drop quick on ALL proto tcp from any to any port = 80
block drop quick on ALL proto udp from any to any port = 80

DUMMYNET RULES:
dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*" all

Output of:

sudo pfctl -vvv -s all
Password:
No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
TRANSLATION RULES:
@0 nat-anchor "com.apple/*" all
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 179894    Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@0 rdr-anchor "com.apple/*" all
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 574091    Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]

FILTER RULES:
@0 scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" all fragment reassemble
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 1133714   Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@0 anchor "com.apple/*" all
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 574091    Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@1 block drop inet from any to 93.184.220.29
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 574091    Packets: 812       Bytes: 51968       States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@2 block drop inet from any to 93.184.220.70
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 573678    Packets: 210       Bytes: 13152       States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@3 block drop quick on ALL proto tcp from any to any port = 80
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 574091    Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]
@4 block drop quick on ALL proto tcp from any to any port = 53
  [ Owner : nil          Priority : 0     ]
  [ Evaluations: 0         Packets: 0         Bytes: 0           States: 0     ]
  [ Inserted: uid 0 pid 68 ]

I made a mistake:

Blocking in the IP is archieved via:

Inserting

block drop inet from any to 93.184.220.29
block drop inet from any to 93.184.220.70

In

 sudo nano /etc/pf.conf


Messages app showing unread number after deleted message. Can remove/reset? Just what the title says, I deleted a group message in Messages, but it's still showing the unread number from that thread (see screenshot) and I can't bring up the group message because I deleted it.

Short of having someone text in that group again to make it reappear, anyone know how I can fully delete the thread, or clear the unread number?

Two options:

Close Messages.app, then in the Terminal killall Dock. This worked for me.
Identify the message that Messages believes is unread (hover over icon in Dock) and delete it on your iDevice(s).

From here: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/unread-messages-badge-on-mbp-is-stuck.1806575/

Also, this seems to be a duplicate of Why does Messages on OSX always show unread messages?


My iPhone 4 won't send text messages! My iPhone is not sending text messages through. It will take a long time to send (progressing the little bar at top very slowly), then it says "Message not Delivered". Why and how can I resolve this?

I had the same problem, there are two things you can try:

It is possible that your carrier's network is having problems. The best course of action is to see whether the problem goes away after a day or two
Have the person you are trying to message send you a message to your phone and reply then to see whether this fixes the connection issues


How do I rename a Shared Photo Stream? The only option in my Shared Photo Stream appears to be "Edit", which lets me add/delete photos. Can I rename the title perhaps online somewhere?

New method for iOS 7, 8, and 9:

Open the Photos app
Make sure you're on the iCloud Photo Sharing screen (tap back as necessary)
Hit Edit (top right)
Tap on album name text from listing
Make your edits
Tap Done to save


Can't connect as different user while accessing network share with in domain network in Mac Can't connect as different user while accessing network share with in domain network in Mac.
Through Go > Connect to server > connect as

I am having the same issue. I am logged in with userA. I can see all of the shares. I want to access a specific share that userA does not have access to that userB does. I disconnect from server, but 'connect as' does not do anything when I click it

I found a workaround:

Go to Finder
Click Go, then Connect to Server
Create a path of smb://userB@myserver

Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7988659?answerId=31890794022#31890794022


Can´t run VMs on VMware Fusion - MacOS High Sierra - Cannot find a valid peer process to connect to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6

VMware Fusion 10.1.3

Error message:
"Cannot find a valid peer process to connect to."

Already clicked Allow on Privacy and Security for VMware Inc. but the button doesn´t work.

How else might I troubleshoot this?

I found the allow button wouldn't work as I was running magicprefs mouse software. I disabled this and the button then worked. However that didn't fix the problem for very long and the VM continues to crash.


Deleting app data from Game Center So, I had this app called World Chef, it's a game and I wanted to start over. I deleted the app and then re-installed it. It didn't remove the data from the game so I deleted the app from Game Center too but the data was still there! I tried signing off from my account but that didn't work either. Is there anyway I can COMPLETELY remove the data from my device so I can start a new game? I also need the help with Game Center because the game is always in my Game Center and I think it is the cause of the problem.

I don't think Apple has a way to delete things or let you delete things - this is an iCloud general feature / design goal.

It's up to each developer to clean things (or ask you if you want things cleaned) when you delete the app or use the code in the app for resetting things.

You'll need to work directly with that vendor unless Apple makes a change going forward.

See:

Can I delete an iOS game and retain my progress?
How do I delete data for one game in the iPad Game Center?


How to contact Apple to check if they will permit an iOS app? Specifically there's a site called gab.com that's about free speech and has attracted a number of radical people. Because of this it has been banned form the Apple app store, even in its more recent iterations as it moved into the fediverse.

I was thinking of forking their old app and making a third party app that blocked sensitive content, hopefully making the app acceptable for the app store (since the previous one was banned due to hate speech).

I'd hate to go through all that work just to have Apply say they won't allow it anyways.

If I want to create an app in a sensitive subject area, is there a way to contact Apple before making the app to see if they'll allow it or not?

The short answer is once you are a paid developer, you have paid support from developer relations. I can't imagine apple would offer anyone an unofficial or cursory "you're good" without seeing the app

The good news is Apple now has clearly worded and very specific public guidance on what app review considers and specific items relating to safety.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

Apple’s review guidelines should help you decide if you want to pay the $100 to get a proper response from Apple on your specific implementation of a front end to that site. (Even if there is an API to let you host it - seems the site is having problems getting hosted and has moved to paid only access)

Section 1 on safety has all you should need to decide if “free speech” means you cannot or choose not to control bullying and hateful speech.

  1.1.1 Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or place a targeted individual or group in harm’s way. Professional political satirists and humorists are generally exempt from this requirement.

The bar for publishing free speech apps is that you would be held accountable for Apple’s definition of ensuring some level of safety for people that download your app.

  To prevent abuse, apps with user-generated content or social
  networking services must include:

  A method for filtering objectionable material from being posted to the app
  A mechanism to report offensive content and timely responses to concerns
  The ability to block abusive users from the service
  Published contact information so users can easily reach you

Now, how you value your time - I would presume you'd spend 10x on legal advice so you understand the contract you sign to become a developer over the $100 Apple charges to be a developer.

The hierarchy of control is pretty easy to see, though if you step back from the details of app review. From most strict to least strict Apple services:

Most restricted is if your app contains items that might be adult or objectionable or hateful. Expect Apple to carefully look at an application that has  something widely understood to have racial undertones like a Nazi Swastica or a US Confederate flag. Based on the country in which you want to sell that app, expect to handle sensitive content with care.
Less restricted is if your app is a portal to user generated content. You absolutely have to disclose this, but there may be more latitude to pass review when you’re not embedding the content in your app.
Even less restricted is of your item is a book or music item - that is about expressing your artistic and intellectual ideas and not that Apple endorses your lyrics or writing.
The most free speech friendly expression is a web app - just make your Applications into a progressive web app or offline web app and there is no review. Anyone interested in participating in free speech is free to run your app without Apple or anyone else reviewing it. (Except perhaps the government where people live)

I would say, think about why your app has to be on the App Store and not a web app if it’s just a discussion forum or place for people to gather. Free speech generally restricts governments and not platforms and companies like Apple or even Stack Exchange which all publish guidelines restricting speech on their platforms.


Why can I edit PDF Form Data with Preview but not with Acrobat DC? So, I have a PDF-Form that I need to fill. Since it is rather big, I downloaded the PDF and am willing to edit the form offline / outside the browser. This seems to work fine with the Preview app, but Acrobat DC only lets me edit fields that I previously filled with the Preview app, Acrobat does not let me edit empty fields.

Am I doing something wrong or might the "official" Adobe App be buggy? Any similar experiences on Mac? I updated to the newest Acrobat (2020.006.20034) without any changes. MacOS version is 10.15.3.

Without seeing the PDF, it's impossible to give an assessment. However:

The irony of PDFs is that the format was designed to enable standardized documents; but the flexibility of the format means that PDFs can be created in lots of different ways. Sometimes the syntax can be incorrect, or the various elements unsuited to their intended task.

While bugs do exist in Acrobat, Adobe are the creators and custodians of the PDF format, so in the absence of other information, I would assume the PDF document is at fault.

It's also possible that 'rinsing' the PDF through Preview may cause problems, as MacOS's Quartz framework can only write a subset of the PDF language.

In Acrobat, you should be able to Preflight the PDF (Command Shift X) and check that its syntax is correct and that it's suitable for the job required: you can also Fix any problems found.

Acrobat should also let you create new form fields, or at least, write text in the correct position. If you can't do those things, then something is very wrong indeed. Try creating new forms or text in another PDF document.


Create a Bootable Windows USB from a OS X to work on a PC What I need to achieve is

Create a Bootable USB drive from Windows 7 iso image using a Mac running.
Use the flash drive to boot and install windows on a PC (not Mac)

What I'm looking for is an app like WinToFlash but one that can run from OS X.
This app make a bootable flash drive from a Windows iso image. I found a mac alternative to WinToFlash a while ago, but I don't remember the name.

All I can find is questions about making a bootable usb from a mac to a mac. I want to repair a Windows PC that doesn't startup but I have a working Mac computer, the target computer is a PC (not Apple).

A PC can't boot from a USB created with bootcamp which have MBR based BIOS.

UNetbootin doesn't seems to work with Windows iso's just Linux iso's.

P.S. the target PC have BIOS, it doesn't have UEFI.

Bootcamp can create a USB for PC. Just only check the "Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk"  checkbox. A similar question from How to create a Windows 7 installation USB from OS X? shows that Bootcamp has the "ability to create install USBs" for Windows.


Add images to a contact in Contacts Is there a way to modify the type style and add JPEGs or PNGs to Contacts?

The only media which can be added to a contact is as a profile photo. Notes only permits plain text, like other contact fields. Therefore unfortunately it's not possible to do this currently.


Is it possible to use AirPlay on a MacBook Pro 2013 with the lid closed? Is it possible to send the audio/video to a 3rd generation AppleTV and close the lid on the MacBook? When I try it, the MacBook goes to sleep. Is there any trick to get this working?

You can prevent your MacBook from going to sleep with NoSleep.


Partially copy a folder, preserving the invisible system files contained, but only some of the remaining content I am looking for a way to copy a folder, with all the invisible and system files it contains in its "first level", but only some of the other visible, "normal" folders it contains?
This is related to a "Time Machine" data transfer, from an old disk to a new one. But I think it is a question interesting in its own.

First create a new folder where you will copy the data to: mkdir <dest_folder>. Then use:

# "First level" hidden files
find <source_folder> -d 1 -name ".*" -print0 | xargs -0 -J % cp -R % <dest_folder>
# Normal folders
cp -R <source_folder>/<folder1> <source_folder>/<folder2> ... <dest_folder>


When syncing photos to iPhone or iPad through iTunes from Aperture, it syncs the wrong (original) versions. Why? I have an album, let's call it "Europe Trip 2011" within which, in Aperture, I have done at least some degree of editing to all of its pictures (exposure, saturation, curves, etc).  As we all know, Aperture works off of "versions" of a file.  So, my edited photos are all newer versions of the original.

Well, problem is, once I've finished the editing, I close Aperture, then open iTunes (in this order, to make sure everything is "updated" upon close & open).  Then, I select the usual "sync photos...from Aperture" within the iPhone or iPad window on iTunes.  Then, I find the "Europe Trip 2011" album, select it, and commence syncing.

iTunes does in fact sync all of the correct photos, in order, etc.  Problem is, it only syncs with the original, un-edited versions.  So, now I have all of my pics on my iPhone or iPad, but none of them are edited.  They are all the originals.  Which is…semi-helpful, but not what I'm shooting for.

I have taken every step I could think of so far to address this discrepancy including: "Update Previews" and "Share previews with iLife and iWork: Always" in Aperture.

Thoughts and/or suggestions?   Thanks!

If all your edited photos are new versions of the original, then I'm guessing you've got Aperture set to create new versions when you make adjustments (that's an option in Preferences).  In that case, then each photo is probably in a stack with all of its versions.  Generally, only the "pick" (or top) of each stack is synced with your iOS device.  So you need to go through your album and move all the edited versions to the top of their stacks.

To do this:

Open your album in Aperture
In the Stacks menu, choose Open All Stacks
For each of the stacks in the album, choose the version you want and choose "Pick" under the Stacks menu.  This will make the chosen version jump to the far left of the group.

I might be wrong on the name of that command, but I believe the shortcut for it is Command-\.  That's what I usually use, instead of the menu option.

You can then re-sync your device, and the proper versions should show up.  You might want to try it with one or two of them to make sure it works before doing it for all of them.

Additionally, you might want to turn off the option to create new versions for each adjustment.  It'll mitigate this problem in the future.  Aperture uses non-destructive editing anyway, so you're not making irreversible changes to the original no matter what.  If you want to make multiple versions of a photo, you can do it manually with the Duplicate Version command (in the right-click menu on a photo, or somewhere in the menu options at the top).


Why have an email address associated with iMessage? Seems to me like this only confuses, since conversations are separated by address/phone number. Are their any advantages, or is it safe to remove all email address from my iMessage?

In the past, the main reason to iMessage to emails, was so that users could receive them on their Mac, iPad, or iPod Touch. However, iOS 6 and Mountain Lion allow the user to sync Messages across all their devices. This works great as long as the recipient has a iPhone, and have updated their software to the latest version. If they just have an iPad, for example, you would want to text their email address, as they wouldn't have a phone number to associate with. Also, some people don't update their devices as soon as one comes available, and as a result, some may still be using iOS 5 which wouldn't support that functionality.

Beyond those reasons, there should be no reason, why not to text someone's phone number. In fact, that is basically all I do.


Can I clean up by date created in reverse order? I have a folder of documents that I want to sort by the date they were created from oldest to newest. I know you can do this in list view, but I really want it to be in icon view.

I know that you can clean up by date created from the right-click menu, but that puts the newest files at the top, which is the opposite of what I want. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can do this using AppleScript:

tell application "Finder"
    activate
    set theFolder to insertion location
    set theWindow to container window of theFolder
    if the current view of theWindow is not icon view then error "This script is for folders in icon view"

    set iconSpacing to 0.85 * (icon size of icon view options of theWindow)
    get theWindow's bounds
    set windowWidth to ((item 3 of the result) - (item 1 of the result))

    set itemList to (sort (every item in theFolder) by creation date)

    set nextPoint to {iconSpacing, iconSpacing}
    repeat with thisItem in itemList
        set position of thisItem to nextPoint

        -- Move nextPoint on.
        set item 1 of nextPoint to (item 1 of nextPoint) + iconSpacing * 2
        if (item 1 of nextPoint) + iconSpacing is greater than the windowWidth then
            set item 1 of nextPoint to iconSpacing
            set item 2 of nextPoint to (item 2 of nextPoint) + iconSpacing * 2.2
        end if

    end repeat
end tell

Copy the above script into Script Editor, which is found in the Utilities folder inside Applications.

To make it more convenient to run the script, you can enable the macOS Script menu or use a third-party program like FastScripts.


How to Secure erase files in OS X without moving the files into trash? My Question is I want to erase a file in OS X Securely (like the function of "Secure Empty Trash") so that, the file cannot be recovered by using recovery tools. I don't want to empty the trash. It is possible to erase Files Securely in OS X without moving the file to Trash ?

You can always use the terminal command rm with the -P option:

  [Option -P will]
  Overwrite regular files before deleting them.  Files are overwritten three times, first with the byte pattern 0xff, then 0x00, and then 0xff again, before they are deleted.

If you're not handy with the Terminal, just:

Open the Terminal.app (Found in /Applications/Utilities).
Type cd  and drag the folder which contains the file you want to delete, to the terminal window.
Type rm -P FileName.extension and hit Enter


Saving photos to iPhoto from iCloud, does copy/paste work? I am new to iCloud, and trying to figure out how to save my iPhone photos to my MacBookPro (Yosemite OS) for archiving purposes.

Right now, I am manually copying the photos from my "photo stream" events in iPhoto and pasting them into regular albums on iPhoto.

Is this enough to properly archive my photos onto my hard drive?

When I looked on the Apple website there were more complicated instructions for archiving, I'm hoping my low-tech solution is sufficient so my photos won't be deleted when the photos are deleted off of my iCloud photo stream.

From Apple Support:

  iPhoto automatically imports all photo stream photos into your library so you can keep them permanently (...)

Unless you disable "Automatic import" from the options, there is no need to manually copying them as they already are in your library.

Also, adding them to iPhoto albums does not make additional copies of the pictures, just lets you arrange links to the originals in any fashion you like. In fact if you remove a photo from an album:

  The photos are removed only from this album, not from other albums or events in your photo library.

And neither from the library, for that matter.

This is because iPhoto albums work like labels, instead of being real folders (see an explanation here).

So to answer your question, enabling My Photo Stream on your iOS device and iPhoto, keeping auto import on, should suffice to have one copy of your pictures on your hard drive, given you regularly open iPhoto and have internet available for both (not necessarily concurrently ).

Note that videos are not uploaded via My Photo Stream, and that you may run into trouble if you take more than 1000 pictures or let more than 30 days go between each iPhoto session.

Check Apple's FAQ on the details of this limitations.

I would advise to implement some kind of backup anyway, as this scheme will at the most leave you with one —maybe two copies if you don't delete them from your iOS device.
Time Machine is easy and free; for a dedicated picture/video solution check iCloud Photo Library (paid).

This information applies to the Photos app too at the moment of writing.


Delete picture from photos view, keep in albums I don't have any Apple products, so sorry if this is an stupid question - I'm an assistant and have been tasked with solving this for my boss. When you open the photos app, you have two options at the bottom: "Photos" and "Albums." Is it possible to delete pictures from the "Photos" tab, but keep them in the "Albums" tab? Or even a way to hide the "Photos" view from being an option? Thanks for the help!

This is (sort of) possible in iOS 9.

Go to albums
Find your picture(s)
Tap the share button in the bottom left
Tap "hide"
It will ask if you want to hide the picture, stating "it will be hidden from moments but still visible in albums"
Tap "Hide Photo"

The picture will not be visible in the Photos tab but it will be visible in your albums.

To unhide the picture, go to Albums > Hidden, select your pictures, tap the Share icon and tap "Unhide"


How can I change a Numbers graph x axis to go from the lowest value to the highest value? I'm graphing columns A and B, where A is the x axis. I have entries entered in A like so: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5... and so on.

When I select A and B and make a graph, it seems like the x axis does not automatically arrange itself from the lowest to the greatest value, meaning the graph looks quite strange.

Is there a way to make the x axis graph the data as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... instead of as 1, 3, 2, 4, 5...?

Sorry if I am unclear. I will make amendments at the earliest opportunity if clarification is required.

Sort your data ascending based on the values in column A - the x-axis.


Google Drive crashing Mac I am looking to uninstall Google Drive without fully loading the computer, such as through Single user mode.

I recently installed Drive and it is now crashing so my desktop will not load.

I tried loading safe mode, but I only get blue screen.

I am running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and also have the disc to load from.

Boot into Single User mode by booting with ⌘S
Mount the internal disk

fsck -yf
mount -uw /

Delete Google Drive

rm -rf /Applications/Google\ Drive.app

Reboot


Lock & Unlock the screen via WLAN - Keyboard I use Synergy to share my mouse and keyboard across different computers.

Now i want to lock and unlock the screen of my mac. I have activated corners, so when i move my mouse at the left corner of my screen, it gets dark.

  But when i want to unlock the screen, nothing happens! My Mac doesn't
  recognize any mouse movements or keyboard actions.

I need to lock & unlock the mac screen for testing purpose.

Is there any script command which can lock and unlock my screen by itself?

  For example: lock my screen for 5 secondes, and unlock it again after
  this period of time.

You may be able to work something together in automator but I am not too familiar with that app.

I would check and see if you have wake for network access on.
In System Preferences->Energy Saver there is a checkbox to "wake for network access". If that is unchecked it is unlikely your computer will respond since I believe that app is based on Networking

[UPDATE]: Doing a quick search it appears other users are experiencing this issue with synergy and lion. take a look here


Is there a difference regarding battery between Apple Watch 38 mm and 42 mm? Apple says here the battery power for all Apple Watches no matter which size is up to 18 hours.

But is there a difference regarding battery? The 42mm version has bigger display, maybe also a bigger battery? Is there any difference? I would like to buy the device with the best battery.

Apple used to say that the larger Apple Watch ‘typically experiences longer battery life’ on their Apple Watch battery information page, however they removed this line from the page when the Apple Watch Series 2 was released.

The mAh specifications are as follows:

Apple Watch (original) & Apple Watch Series 1, 38mm: 205 mAh (source)
Apple Watch (original) & Apple Watch Series 1, 42mm: 246 mAh (source)
Apple Watch Series 2, 38mm: 273 mAh (source)
Apple Watch Series 2, 42mm: 334 mAh (source)


Run two 4K and one non-4K external display from late 2013 Macbook Pro I have a late 2013 Macbook Pro with both the Intel Iris Pro integrated graphics and the NVidia Geforce 750M dedicated GPU. I run two 4k displays, one at 60Hz through a thunderbolt bolt and one at 30Hz through HDMI. I have one open thunderbolt port, and would like to add a 3rd external display. I know that it is possible to run three external displays from this model (see here, here), but I also know that it is not possible to run three 4k displays (see here).

My question:

Is it possible to run three external displays, one at 4k/60hz, one at 4k/30Hz, and one at some other resolution/refresh-rate? If so, what is the max resolution/refresh supported for the third monitor?

You are outside "supported" territory with using three screens on that hardware.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204154 - thunderbolt FAQ
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587 4k and 5k and beyond

That being said, you can try connecting things and Apple hardware is known to run more displays than the "support" document allows. Usually it's due to driver updates that can still juggle all the connections but that the performance isn't there or you end up with glitches like frozen screens or just not the frame rates Apple likes to see on supported hardware combination.


Can you wipe a MacBook pro's ssd if it doesn't have a firmware password? My MacBook Pro got stolen, and I have file vault enabled but not the Firmware password, too strange on Apple's part not to set it on by default when you set a user password or at least to raise awareness about it. I'm an advanced user but never thought about the firmware password.
Anyway, my biggest fear now is that the thief can erase the disk using recovery mode, reinstall macOS and have a new apple id configured, allowing him to bypass the "find my iPhone" notification and lock.
Is that doable? If so, that redeems the whole anti-theft features of "find my" worthless!

Sorry, you're out of luck. If they boot into recovery mode, they can wipe the drive without going online. Even if they went online, your iCloud information is stored on the encrypted, unmounted drive so the recovery OS isn't going to log in to your account and report the location anyway. Report the theft to Apple in case the thief, or a buyer, goes to an apple store for help with your machine.


Why do I have to restore the iTunes Library folder permissions every time I update iTunes? Every time there is an iTunes update, the permissions of my iTunes Library directory change. Is there a way to prevent this?

You could try repairing permissions on the hard drive containing your iTunes Library folder.


Can't change MAC Address in El Capitan I read the answer to this question and tried to change my Mac's en0 MAC address. When I use ifconfing, it reports the newly set MAC address, but in Network Settings, it still reports the old one.

Using ifconfig:

In Wi-Fi dropdown:

I tried turning Wi-Fi on and off (using sudo ifconfig en0 up/down), still the same. Am I doing something wrong or is this a part of System Integrity Protection introduced in El Capitan?

The reason I think my MAC address hasn't changed, is that I use bandwidth restrictions using UniFi AP, but changing my MAC address doesn't seem to contravene those restrictions.

I understand you are looking to actually change your MAC address, but in case you want to spoof it to appear as another MAC address, this is what I recommend:

Use SpoofMac. It just works. Here is how to get it and use it:

$ git clone https://github.com/feross/SpoofMAC.git
$ cd SpoofMAC
$ python setup.py install
$ cd scripts
$ python spoof-mac.py list
- "Ethernet" on device "en0" with MAC address 3C:07:54:55:71:41
- "FireWire" on device "fw0" with MAC address A4:B1:97:FF:FE:9E
- "Wi-Fi" on device "en1" with MAC address 68:A8:6D:1B:FE:E4 currently set to 00:E0:B8:1B:FE:E4
$ python spoof-mac.py set 00:00:00:00:00 en1 # or whatever mac address you want

Hope that helps anyone trying to change their perceived mac address and failing.


how do I reconnect my mini mac to wireless keyboard and mouse after a reboot after a reboot my mini mac seems to have lost pairing with both wireless keyboard and mouse. How do I go forward from here?

You need to go to System Preferences and then go to the Mouse and Keyboard panes. It should be pretty straightforward from here, just disconnect the keyboard and mouse and then reconnect them in their respective panes. I can't go into anymore detail, because I only have a MacBook, which doesn't use Bluetooth keyboard and mice.


Help identifying " "MessageExtension-Madrid" in ios logs Interested in the following Ios log snippet.  Trying to figuring out what my ever mysterious Ipad is up to.  Couldn't find any leads online.

-My device is not jailbroken and I have no non apple apps installed other than Netflix.

-I do not use Imessage or any other message service on the device.

-All app permissions are set to off

 Jan 17 22:40:47 Adams-iPad SpringBoard(UserNotificationsUIKit)[51] <Notice>: Loaded extension com.apple.MobileSMS.MessagesNotificationExtension for categories [ MessageExtension, MessageExtension-AudioRaise, MessageExtension-Madrid, MessageExtension-MadridGroup, MessageExtension-SMS ] with attributes: {
    NSExtensionPointName = "com.apple.usernotifications.content-extension";
    NSExtensionPointVersion = "1.0";
    NSExtensionVersion = "1.0";
    UNNotificationExtensionCategory =     (
        MessageExtension,
        "MessageExtension-AudioRaise",
        "MessageExtension-Madrid",
        "MessageExtension-MadridGroup",
        "MessageExtension-SMS"
    );
    UNNotificationExtensionDefaultContentHidden = 1;
    UNNotificationExtensionInitialContentSizeRatio = "0.7";
    UNNotificationExtensionOverridesDefaultTitle = 1;
    UNNotificationExtensionUserInteractionEnabled = 1;```

Wow, that was an interesting little Google detour...

According to this page, 'Madrid' was the codename for the iMessages app when it was still in development, and apparently elements of the internal structure — database names, components, etc — were developed using the code name and have not been changed since.

Now, even if you don't use the Messages app ('Madrid' became 'iMessages' became 'Messages'), Messages is so thoroughly integrated into the OS that some of its components are bound to be invoked. From what you posted it looks like some background daemon is loading a notification extension into the system. That's a bit of code that lurks in the background and posts notifications on the screen if you get text messages. That extension, in turn, is checking in with the Messages app, which is why 'Madrid' is popping up in your logs. This entry seems completely normal to me, so I wouldn't worry.


Mail.app @hotmail.com Exchange Is it possible (in any way!) to enable my @live.nl, @outlook.com, @hotmail.com accounts through Exchange, into the stock Mail application? I'm willing to buy Office 365 for one account (and remove the others) as long as it supports 'offline' push messages. I've tried the following:

  Add the account through 'Internet accounts' in System Preferences. As the exchange server, I've tried: m.outlook.com and s.outlook.com.

From what I've read, OS X Mail.app does not support EAS (Exchange Active Sync), which is the only form of Exchange supported by @outlook.com, @live.nl, @hotmail.com etc. Could anyone verify this?

EDIT:
For clarification, I want to have an Exchange set-up to receive the additional contact, calendar and reminders syncing.

To add Microsoft mail accounts to mail, you have to select 'Add other account...' from the internet accounts list. Then enter your hotmail email and password as normal.


Can I create two different keyboard shortcuts for the same command? The Preferences.app > Keyboard > Shortcuts pane allows for the creation of shortcuts to activate menu commands. However if that menu command already has a keyboard then that shortcut is overridden by the new shortcut.

For example, the Paste menu command - I would prefer to use more than one shortcut to execute that command.

Command + V
Shift + Insert

How do I prevent the second addition from removing the first that so that I can create as many keyboard shortcut aliases as I want for a given menu command?

Look into using the application "Keyboard Maestro" as a possible solution to your problem.


Does Touch Bar support background / system wide applications? Say for example I want to use Touch Bar for time tracking, or todo list application. It'd be super useful to have something that's always there no matter which application I'm viewing.

The Touch Bar is not meant to show background and/or system wide notifications.

Apple has put out a document called macOS Human Interface Guidelines which is intended to communicate to developers how UI elements should be implemented; there's a section specifically about how the touch bar should function.

Under the Design for the Touch Bar Section, it provides guidelines as to how the Touch Bar should be utilized within the context of an App.

  Design a contextual experience. Make the Touch Bar relevant to the current context on the main screen. Identify the different contexts
  within your app, and consider how you can expose varying levels of
  functionality based on how your app is used.

And more specifically to your question, because "background/system wide applications" would provide notifications and it's UI and to the screen (via  Notifications most likely), not through the keyboard:

  Use the Touch Bar as an extension of the keyboard and trackpad, not as a display. Although technically it’s a screen, the Touch Bar
  functions as an input device, not a secondary display. The user may
  glance at the Touch Bar to locate or use a control, but their primary
  focus is the main screen. The Touch Bar shouldn’t display alerts,
  messages, scrolling content, static content, or anything else that
  commands the user’s attention or distracts from their work on the main
  screen.

(emphasis mine)


using find my phone to "track" kid does it send email or other notice to kid? my son is overseas and I had to send him a new phone...before sending I turned on location services so that I could log onto find my phone on my phone and locate his phone.  (his first phone was stolen so thought would be good to have)
He is now saying that he keeps getting emails saying I am using Find my phone to find his phone...I have never heard that it sends an email to the person?

Instead of using "find my iphone" use the "find friends" app. It's from Apple and I use it all the time.

I saw that the OP was using the wrong tool for the job. “Find my phone” does send notices as a feature. Of course if the OP wants to find a lost or stolen phone it’s the right tool and the emails wouldn’t be an issue.

If the user wants to “track” the other user, however, then “Find Friends” is the correct tool to use


Bluetooth PIN code for Apple Pencil I need to pair with an Apple Pencil; yet I cannot seem to be able to determine the correct PIN for the device. What is the default PIN for an Apple Pencil Version One?

You can't pair an Apple Pencil with an iPhone, they only work with iPads (and don't need a PIN to pair them. The first model of the Pencil actually pairs by having it plug into the iPad so the pairing isn't even bluetooth-based)


Can Pages '09 create a list inside a list? Is there a way to create a "sublist" inside a list item from an outer list in Pages '09?

More specifically, I want to do this:

Example made with HTML (should look like this):

First category

Second category:

    Here is a text. And a list:

Point

Another point

    Proceed with text. Perfect.

Third category

Here's a screenshot of Pages where I'm trying to do this.

Yes, changing the color is cheating and it's not an elegant solution...

In order to change the icon color, you need to open the inspector ⌥+⌘+I and go to T → List → Bullets & Numbering


How do I change my Apple ID’s rescue email if I forgot my security question's answers? I had my rescue email to my old email that I deleted later. Then I realized that I forgot my security passwords and the only way to find it was to send an email to your rescue email. I didn't know what to do since its been a long time since I deleted that email. What should I do?

When you do not know your security questions and have no recovery email access, the best thing to do is to call applecare. You can find the phone numbers in this link.

When you have two-step vertification enabled, apple can't reset your password. Without your recovery code, your apple id will be useless.


No Shark on OS X Lion? I can't find Shark on OS X Lion. The most recent Xcode is correctly installed, but I can only see Instruments. Has Shark been made obsolete by Instruments ?

Correct.

Shark was replaced with Instruments. There is a set of tools from Apple called CHUD that does still include Shark.

It's available here. It does require you to have a Developer Account to download. However there has been limited success in getting it to work on Lion.

It's safe to assume that Shark has bitten the dust.


BetterTouchTool: Is it possible to use a context-menu item with a gesture? Example: I want to attach the "TipTap Left" gesture with "Save Image As..." from the context-menu in Chrome. Possible?

The current version of BetterTouchTool has a Trigger Context Menu Item action in the list of Predefined Actions.


Use shift to select word until next capital letter I am programming and from Windows I'm used to use the "shift" + "alt" + "arrow key right/left" keys to select a part from a word until the next capital letter starts. But on my Mac this shortcut only selects the whole word. Can this be done somehow on a Mac too?

For example:

myVariable    (is the text to select, cursor is at the beginning (before 'm')).

Now using the shortcut "shift" + "alt" + "arrow key right" would select only 'my':

myVariable  ('my' is selected, pressing it again would then select the whole word.)

This is a shortcut often needed for example when programming using the programming language Java.

I found a solution to my problem, but it only works for the IDE (development environment) I am using, which is the program IntelliJ IDEA, and not system wide.
But that fits my needs.

Solution:

Go to Preferences > Keymap > Search for "move caret to" > Select "Move Caret to Next Word in Different "Camel Humps" Mode" > Double Click it and select "Add keyboard shortcut" > Enter any shortcut you want.

You may also set a shortcut for doing the same thing but in the different direction.


My book western digital not recognized on windows after time machine backup I have an MY BOOK from western digital I used it once for TIME MACHINE BACKUP, now under windows the hard drive is not recognized and theres no way to format it since it not recognized by windows, but it is recognized by mac, how can I format it in mac so it will be recognized in windows once again?

If by 'not recognized' you mean not able to be mounted, this is because it has been formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) — HFS+.

To be able to read/write to it in Windows, you can format it to FAT.

Open Disk Utility and connect your disk.
Select the disk and choose the Erase tab.
Select MS-DOS (FAT) as the format.

Click Erase.

All data on the disk will be lost.


Can the name under the Bank Account be different from Account holder? My sister made an iTunes Connect account and signed up for the developer program (she is over 21). I am the developer of the account; i'm just not exactly 18 yet (will be in a couple months).

In setting up the agreements/tax/banking, can she input my bank account information, since it has a different name than that on the developer account? If not, is there anything she can do (add me as a developer or something) to be able to?

Per the iTunes Connect Developer Guide (emphasis mine):

Specify the bank account.
Identify the bank account by the following:
...
Account Holder Name. Be sure that the Account Holder Name exactly matches the name expected by the bank; it doesn't have to match the Legal Entity Name for the iTunes Connect organization.


Changing permissions on /etc/hosts I frequently (at least once per day) need to edit my hosts file, and typing my password every time is getting annoying. I know how to change the permissions to allow myself to write to the file, and I'm aware of the security implications.

My question: will I break anything by modifying the ACLs on /etc/hosts through the Finder?

I'm running OS X Lion 10.7.3.

(Since someone is going to ask, I have a Windows 7 VM in VMware Fusion that likes to change its local connection IP address every time it resumes from suspend (VM pause) or reboots.)

Nothing will break (or hasn't for me whenever I resort to this on occasion) - you'll have to remember to re-do the permissions if and when the OS updates that file systematically. You'll also want to watch the permissions if you ever "repair permissions" since that file is likely recorded in a system receipt. I'd go so far as to set a launchd task to daily enforce your "custom" permissions if you feel it's worth that much work and log something to the console about the need for this "adjustment"

This is a far faster and simpler (and therefore probably better) solution to setting up your own DNS or NIS even though a trip down memory lane would be fun for a few moments:

cd /var/yp
make


Apple-Certified RAM? I'm planning to upgrade my RAM in my MacBook Pro (Late 2008) from the base 2GB to 4GB. I'm planning to buy RAM from Kingston.

There's two types of Kingston 1066 2GB RAM here. (Laptop-sized RAM)

Normal RAM
Apple-certified RAM?

Can I just buy the normal RAM, or do I have to buy the Apple-certified RAM? Is this not like how the hard drives work with the MacBooks - You can use any as long as it's 2.5" and it fits into the hard drive bay?

There's one important thing, and only one important thing, about Apple-certified RAM.

If you:

Buy RAM that isn't Apple-certified
Install it (or have it installed by a non-Apple tech) in a Mac
Later have a (non-RAM-related) problem with that Mac and send it to Apple for servicing without taking out the added RAM

Then you may get a little love note in the box when it comes back:

  During the testing process, it was determined that a part Apple has not approved for use with your product resulted in your product's failure. When the part was removed, your product successfully passed all Apple diagnostic and reliability tests…

  Continued use of this part (or parts) may cause another failure or damage to your Apple product, which Apple will not cover in a subsequent repair.

  The part (or parts) that did not pass Apple's diagnostic tests for your product is identified below:

        __X__ RAM Memory
        _____ Other

And yes, I'm speaking from my own personal experience (part one, part two).


How to connect to a Wi-Fi network that requires a special sign-in In my residence there's a new Wi-Fi system.
We connect to this network that requires a password and then it is supposed to redirect us to a website that ask for another, personal password.

So far I have been able to connect my Samsung tablet and phone, after I connect there appears a message to sign-in to the Wi-Fi .
But using my MacBook it's not the same: I type the first password and connect but there's not an option to sign-in.

I don't know what to do now.

I have had this problem many times with my Mac at places like hotels and universities that use a web based login.

smoosher is on the right track. After the WiFi login, you need to go to a web site that does not use HTTPS. The New York Times is an example (http://nytimes.com). This will cause the redirect you need to the second login page. Sites that use or offer HTTPs probably won't work for the redirect.


iPad/iOS browsing to intranet URL without a ".com" I am on my office network, trying to access our Intranet via iOS Safari. Our Intranet URL is http://Intranet/  (no domain or prefix). Safari never opens this. Is there a way to get to this address on an iPad?

I went into Settings > General > Search Domains and entered our domain name and now I can go to http://hostname/

If this is the solution, I guess I need to figure out how to set this setting in DHCP.


Replace Demo content with fully functional one So I have iPhone 5c ME561LP/A with demo content. Can I replace the demo content with fully functional iOS?

Probably, all you should have to do is wipe and restore it to the latest iOS version via iTunes:

  Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings

  A factory restore erases the information and settings on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod and installs the latest iOS or iPod software.