Mac, LInux and things in between

A great look back at negative reviews gone wrong. I was really surprised to Mac on there because people were against using a mouse.

I’m wouldn’t call myself a huge gamer but the fact that Steam is coming to Mac has be excited.

If you don’t like to send in the error reports and find spindump eating to much time on your Mac, this tip can help

Since the 10.4 version OS X has had a search system called Spotlight. Among other things, Spotlight allows you to search your computer for files matching whatever criteria you enter. In addition to regular files, Spotlight will also show you any programs that match what you’ve typed in. In 10.5 or newer, the tip hit will also be highlighted first and you can simply press enter to select it.

You can access Spotlight in two ways, by click its icon () or pressing command+spacebar. Start typing the name of the application you want launch and press enter when it is highlighted.

This will launch the application. Over time you’ll find you can search for and launch applications very quickly using this method.

Just heard from someone who has *used* one of seven iPhone’s in the Fargo North Dakota area on the Verizon network. Person was told it would be available on Verizon’s network in about six months.

No seriously, Wal-Mart is still open so go buy an external drive and start backing up your data if you aren’t already. Once that backup is done, verify that it worked.

I dunno about you but I value a good portion of the data I keep tucked away on my computers. I have documents, old college work, contacts, music and most importantly, pictures and videos of my kids. To lose any of it because I didn’t take the time to make copies of it would be devastating. Especially when you consider just how many options are available today and how easy they are to use. There really is no excuse not to be backing up your important data.

Before I get into just how you backup your data, lets take a look at a few of the reasons why you should:

• Hard drives fail. They all will eventually. This cannot be stressed enough. You should always consider your hard drive to be on the verge of failure and be delighted that it hasn’t yet.
• Mistakes happen. Ever deleted something you didn’t mean to delete?
• Corruption happens. Maybe you’re a huge iTunes fan but somehow you’ve lost all of your ratings
• Acts of God like fire, flood and lightening are always well tolerated by computers
• Theft. Laptops especially are a target for theft. Unlike your data, the laptop can be replaced readily

The latest versions of the two major operating systems*, Mac OS X 10.5+ and Windows 7, include backup tools right out of the box are simple to setup and require nothing more than an external hard drive be attached to the computer. If you want to get more advanced or want a second method of backup rest assured there is no shortage of available backup solutions available on the market. Many of them will cost some amount of money but there are a good number of free ones as well. I’m only going to touch on what Mac OS X and Windows 7 provides as well as one other alternative.

Mac OS X since 10.5 (Leopard) includes Apple’s approach to backup called Time Machine. There simply is not a product out there on any other platform that is as integrated and easy to use as Time Machine. To use Time Machine you attach an new external hard drive and when prompted by OS X if you’d like to use the drive as a Time Machine drive, click yes. OS X will then format the drive, if needed, and begin the initial backup. From there OS X will perform a backup every hour that your computer is on. If you ever need to restore a file you can do so using the Time Machine interface available right off the menu bar. If you ever need to restore your entire system you boot off your install CD and use the “Restore from Time Machine” function. Done deal.

Windows has long included a backup tool but it was never as well thought out as the one in Windows 7. If your computer is running Windows Vista it is well worth your money to upgrade to Windows 7. To enable backups on Windows 7 click the start menu and search for backup. You will see an entry for Backup and Restore. Click it and follow the resulting Wizard. Windows 7 will create a system restore image that you burn to disc and then creates backups from that point on. Windows 7 isn’t my primary operating system and I really can’t comment on how or how well the restore system works.

If you don’t like the baked in solutions in either operating system, don’t have a newer version of Mac OS X or Windows, run Linux or simply want a different solution than what is provided, have a serious look at CrashPlan. I’m in no way affiliated with the folks at CrashPlan but I can confirm with first hand experience that CrashPlan just works. CrashPlan allows you to backup certain portions of your computer running any version of Windows since XP, Linux and Mac to multiple different locations. These locations include another computer, a friends computer using a special code, a folder on an external drive and if you want to keep your data at an off-site location on the internet, you can do so for a small fee. All other destinations are completely free.

For my Mac systems I use Time Machine and on top of that CrashPlan for the pictures and videos of my children. At any given moment there are four copies of the pictures and videos, one copy on my MacBook, one in the Time Machine backup, one on my work computer and one more copy on my home Linux server. My work computer acts as my off-site backup in the event some disaster strikes our home.

I hope this post strikes a cord with at least a few people who might read it. I’ve helped a number of people repair their computer after an OS or hard drive crash where something important was lost. I hate seeing the look on the person’s face when I tell them their data is simply gone, or possibly recoverable at a hefty price.

Questions? Leave a comment.

I’ve just released the first version of netaman. A very simplistic script that automatically configures a Ubuntu Server 9.10 system as a Mac OS X 10.4+ compatible AFP server. Read more about it at http://blog.dustinrue.com/netaman.

As a followup to my previous post I thought touching on how to get the most out of the Mac keyboard and mouse or trackpad would be a good idea. Although the keyboard and mouse are mostly the same between a Mac and a PC there are a few key differences that can really get a guy hung up.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Watch a long time Mac user and you’ll undoubtedly see them using a large number of keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts let you perform actions that would normally require the use of a mouse but switching from the keyboard to mouse is a time consuming task.

If you’re coming from Windows then you probably know at least some keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+c for copy, ctrl+v for paste. You know that most keyboard shortcuts using the ctrl key plus some other key to get something done. You might also know that the Windows key plus some other key on the keyboard will fire off something completely different. On the Mac the majority of the keyboard shortcuts are fired off using the command key. Below I have a list of some of the most common keyboard shortcuts on the Mac. It is not an exhaustive list

Shortcuts that work nearly anywhere

• command+x, command+c, command+v: cut, copy, paste
• command+space bar: spotlight search. Really useful for launching apps
• command+left or right arrow: One area I’d fault the Mac on, poor use of home/end. This shortcut replicates home/end in most situations. In some apps they are remapped to change tabs, like in iTerm
• fn+delete: On laptops, fn+delete will act like the delete key on a PC keyboard, deleting the character in front of the cursor.
• command+tab: Switch between apps
• command+~: Switch between windows of the current app
• F3: On the newer Mac laptops and the aluminum keyboard, F3 initiates the all windows exposé.
• option+e and then the letter: Gets you that thing above the e
• ctrl+click: Right click
• command+q: Closes all windows of the current app and quits the app
• command+w: Closes the current window (or tab in some apps)
• command+m: Minimize current window
• command+h: Hide the current application. Similar to minimizing an app but doesn’t require Dock space
• command+option+h: Hide all windows other than the current window
• option+mute,volume up/down: Open audio preferences
• option+F3: Exposé preferences

Discovering More
If you want to know about more keyboard shortcuts look no further than the menu bar. Just click a menu and look at the symbols shown to the right of a menu item. The ⌘ is the command key, ⇧ is shift, ⌥ is option, ⎋ is your power button and ⌫ is your backspace (delete) key. ⌥⌘T will usually bring up a special characters palette allowing you to find these symbols and more.

Also know that the option key serves as a modifier for a lot of things. For example, if you hold down the option key and then click the AirPort icon in the menu bar (by the clock) you’ll additional information about the wireless network you’re connected to. If you hold option while clicking the apple menu, the usual “About This Mac” will become a shortcut to the System Profiler.

The Trackpad
While the keyboard is fun and all, the trackpad is where the real magic is. Using the multi-touch trackpad found on the latest generation of Mac laptops will make any other trackpad nearly impossible to use. The trackpad, made of glass with the perfect texture, is large and also serves as the button. You can click using just about any part of the trackpad which actually comes in handy more often than you’d think.

A favorite sticking point of Windows users is that Macs don’t have mice or trackpads with multiple buttons. They then assume that OS X doesn’t understand the venerable right click. This couldn’t be further from the truth. OS X has supported context based right click menus from day one. Accessing them was just different, in the beginning. You’ll find that control+click will produce a right click menu, but so will clicking the trackpad with two fingers. If you’re a fan of tap to click as I am, then you’ll you can find that setting in System Preferences. Once enabled, tapping on the trackpad with two fingers will produce the right click menu. Over time, I’ve found this to be much more useful than a dedicated button because I can get the menu from anywhere on the trackpad.

Here’s a list of the other capabilities of the multi-touch trackpad:

• Two fingers slid up or down: Scrolling, just like the wheel mouse
• Four fingers slid up: Show desktop
• Four fingers slid down: Exposé

For more visit the trackpad preferences in System Preferences. Apple also provides a lot of good information on this topic at http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/work/

Think I missed something? Leave it in the comments!

I know someone who just picked up a new Mac and it got me to thinking, I bet people new to the Mac platform don’t know about all of the great software you can find for the Mac. I thought I’d write up a post on some of my favorite free and paid apps.

• Firefox
• RipIt: DVD ripping made easy
• Adium: Multi-protocol chat
• Growl: Must have notification system
• NetNewsWire: RSS reader that syncs with Google Reader
• BootChamp: Simple menu for rebooting directly into your BootCamp OS installation
• Tweetie: Twitter client
• iTerm: I can’t let go of this great ssh client.
• 1Password: Store all of your passwords. LastPass is free alternative that is more cross platform
• Automator: Built in robot too useful not to mention
• Caffeine: Sometimes you just don’t want your Mac to dim the display or go to sleep.
• Colloquy: Decent IRC client
• Cord: Remote Desktop Client for Mac.
• CrashPlan: Time Machine is good but I just have to have a second way of backing up all of our photos. CrashPlan really does a good job and has saved me.
• HandBrake: Very good video encoder and DVD ripper (requires VLC)
• Loginox: Swap out that ridiculous login screen image.
• MarcoPolo: Change preferences based on your location or “context.”
• MacFusion: Mount/Map ssh/sftp servers in Finder allowing any app to directly access remote files
• smcFanControl: The Mac generally does a good job with the fan but there are times when having it cranked up on high is a good thing, especially for your lap.
• NTFS-3G: Mount NTFS drives as read/write
• SmartSleep: Preference pane that allows you to adjust how your Mac sleeps or hibernates

I think that about covers it. There are far more applications in my applications directory but the apps I listed are must haves in my book. If there are any apps you think I missed leave a comment.

I just realized that my new theme broke my pages. This is fixed. I also just realized that some of the pages were pulling images from my old gallery that I’m unable to find good hosting for right now. I’ll fix the images as soon as I can.