Easy Finder links to open websites at login ~MacOSXHints
It can be useful to have a clickable file on your Desktop or in the Dock that takes you straight to a specified website. It can be even more useful to have websites open automatically when you log in to your computer.
From either Safari, Chrome, or Firefox, you can make one of these files (it will have a .webloc extension) easily. Just click and drag from any website ele- ment that gives you a hand cursor to your desktop or a Finder window. You’ll get a file takes you straight to the website that the link lead to. Opening this file will open your default web browser to this website.
You can keep this in a folder, put it on your Desktop or in your Dock, or set it to open at login. To put it in your dock, just drag it there like any other file. To open it at login, go to the Login Items tab of the Accounts pane of System Preferences. Click the plus button and navigate to and select your file.
Mac Hints & Tips~Mac Hints & Tips
This is a handy trick for taking photos and other files from your iPod to your computer for sorting, editing, etc.
Connect your iPod to your comput- er and go to iTunes. When iTunes launches, your iPod will be listed in the Source list on the left side of the iTunes window. In the “Options” sec- tion of the iPod Preferences window, turn on the checkbox for “Enable Disk Use,” and your iPod will appear on your computer as a mounted disk (like a hard disk or USB device).
On your computer’s desktop, double- click the now-visible iPod, and you’ll see a folder with your stored files. (Don’t disturb the folder named Pho- tos.) Now you can select these files and drag them onto your computer.
Save PDF Graphic Elements using Preview~MacOSXHints
It is easy to create a PDF file with scalable vector graphics, which can be later included elsewhere (LaTeX users will appreciate this).
You will need some application to pre- pare the graphics — Keynote works well (I also tried PowerPoint). Select the graphic. Copy it to the clipboard (using Command+C or Edit » Copy).
Then go into Preview, and type Command+N ( or File » Create From Clipboard). Save the new file as a PDF. Notice that, no matter how much you zoom, the image does not pixellate.
How many times a day do you say that while on your computer? ~MacGroup, Chita Hunter
Wow that many.
Well, I for one usually say that after I accidentally close a Safari browser window. It is not unusual for me to have a minimum of 15 browser win- dows open at any given time. And those windows usually contain mul- tiple tabs that I click back and forth through. So, I do try to close those that may no longer be relevant. But, when I accidentally close the wrong one…
Though, when I quit Safari to end a browser session for the night, or whatever reason for quitting, it’s great to get right back to where I left off by using the “Reopen All Windows from Last Session” command under Safari’s History Menu.
So, I find the “Reopen” commands very, very helpful. But there are times when I may accidentally close one of those browser tabs, and until now there was no recourse to quickly res- urrect it, like I could after closing a browser window.
Hence, added to Safari 5, is the abil- ity to restore that accidentally closed browser tab. Simply select Edit > Undo or use the shortcut keys, Com- mand-Z. An additional safety net.
Avoid crossfade between select songs in iTunes ~MacOSXHints
By default, iTunes will crossfade be- tween songs, blending the end of the current song with the beginning of the next song. You may already know that you can disable this for classical mu- sic or other albums by selecting all the songs in the album and checking the ‘Part of a gapless album’ option in the track info (Command+I).
But you can also disable the crossfade on individual tracks (such as an Intro that fades into the rest of the song). Just make sure you set this option on both tracks.
iTunes will then skip the crossfade whenever both tracks have this op- tion set, effectively disabling the fade when you play the album in order, but not when shuffled or separated in a playlist.
Play songs from multiple playlists in iTunes ~MacOSXHints
This may be well known to many, or it may seem incredibly obvious, since folders have been allowed in iTunes’ playlists since iTunes 5 was released four years ago, but I just figured this one out…
If you have a bunch of playlists in a single folder, you can play all of those playlists as if they were a single play- list by selecting the folder and play- ing it. Anything you can do with an ordinary playlist — shuffling, sorting, etc. — you can also do when playing a playlist folder. The hint works with folders that contain ordinary playlists or smart playlists.