HeySage

In this episode The Sage demonstrates several different uses of Drag and Drop in OS X.

You can watch this episode here.

There are many ways in which drag and drop can be used in OS X. In this episode The Sage demonstrates a few of the less conspicuous implementations of drag and drop. They are:

1. Drag and Drop while holding ⌥ to copy files or folders
2. Drag a file over a folder and hold the mouse cursor over the folder for several seconds to reveal the subdirectories of that folder. Using drag and drop with spring loaded folders can enable you to drag and drop files into folders buried deep within a directory.
3. Dragging files over the dock to open the file with that application.
4. Dragging links to the menu bar to open the link in a new tab.

It is probably worth mentioning that there is usually a quicker way to accomplish the tasks listed above without even using a mouse. Moving and copying files can be quickly achieved via quicksilver. Attaching files to email can be also achieved via quicksilver. Using the quicksilver method the address field will already be populated. Finally, ⌘clicking links will open the link in a new tab. This is much quicker than dragging links around.

In-spite of the quicker keyboard options, many people (my wife to be included) are not geeky enough to pursue the keyboard alternatives. Mouse actions are much more intuitive for everyone. So, feel free to give drag and drop a try. If you are not using it, you will find that it can enhance your workflow.

Technorati Tags: Drag and Drop, OS X, HeySage Podcast

In this episode The Sage show you how to create PDF documents from any text or photos from anywhere within OS X.

You can watch this episode here.

OS X has the ability to create PDF documents from almost any application (any application from which you can print). To create a PDF from a webpage, email message, Word document, etc. all you need to do is save the content as a PDF. To convert the content of an application to a PDF:

1. go to File/Print (⌘P) and click on the PDF button at the bottom of the dialog box.
2. Enter a name for the PDF to be created and choose the directory to which you would like to save the document.
3. Then all you need to do is click Save (hit ⌅) and you have your PDF.

This is very simple yet invaluable. It is great for storing online receipts. At the end of each month The Sage will combine the PDF receipts from the month using monkey bread software’s freeware combine PDFs. This is a great way to keep your receipts organized.

Technorati Tags: PDFs in OS X

In this episode The Sage show you how to create PDF documents from any text or photos from anywhere within OS X.

You can watch this episode here.

OS X has the ability to create PDF documents from almost any application (any application from which you can print). To create a PDF from a webpage, email message, Word document, etc. all you need to do is save the content as a PDF. To convert the content of an application to a PDF:

1. go to File/Print (⌘P) and click on the PDF button at the bottom of the dialog box.
2. Enter a name for the PDF to be created and choose the directory to which you would like to save the document.
3. Then all you need to do is click Save (hit ⌅) and you have your PDF.

This is very simple yet invaluable. It is great for storing online receipts. At the end of each month The Sage will combine the PDF receipts from the month using monkey bread software’s freeware combine PDFs. This is a great way to keep your receipts organized.

Technorati Tags: PDFs in OS X

Well, yesterday disaster struck. I was typing some obscure key combinations in sequence and my trusty powerbook froze on me. So what did I do? First, I tried ⌘⌥⎋ to force quit any applications that had crashed. This was to no avail. After over ten minutes (I was busy doing other things, like, seeing patients) I reset my powerbook (hold down the power book for 10 seconds).

When I tried to reboot, the computer locked up at the stage of loading quicksilver (set to launch on login). So the next step was to boot while holding ⇧ to stop applications from loading. Again non luck.

My next step was to zap the PRAM by holding ⌘⌥PR on boot (You will hear a second chime). Finally, it was time to enter single user mode (boot holding ⌘S while booting). In single user mode I did an FSCK (file system check) and repaired permissions by typing the following (⌅ = enter):

/sbin/fsck -y ⌅        
/sbin/mount -uw / ⌅       
/sbin/autodiskmount -va ⌅        
/usr/sbin/diskutil repairPermissions / ⌅       

and finally

reboot ⌅

an easier way to do this is install AppleJack (before things go wrong). Boot into single user mode and type:

applejack auto reboot ⌅

again no luck.

Next, I plugged in a firewire 800 external HD and held the ⌥ key while booting so as to boot from the external HD. Everything seemed to work fine. At this point I was at a cross road. The sensible next step is to do an archive and install. Since I clone my drives nightly via SuperDuper! and I had a recent backup, I decided to simply clone my backup back to my powerbook HD.

Success, Finally! Here I am now typing up the synopsis of my recovery. I am still mystified as to what caused the problem. I have a feeling the system clock was somehow reset making the date somewhere around 2001. Nonetheless, problem solved. As a summary here were the steps I took.

1. Boot w/ ⇧ (to prevent applications from loading during boot up)
2. Zap PRAM (⌘⌥PR)
3. Enter Single User Mode and repair permissions
4. Boot from backup and restore

In the end, this story exemplifies the importance of a good backup. If you are not regularly backing up your data you should start… NOW!

In this episode The Sage show you how to create an alarm clock that plays songs from a playlist in iTunes. This tutorial will require the use of Automator, iTunes, and iCal.

You can watch this episode here.

The first step is to launch iTunes (Applications/iTunes) and create a new playlist. The steps to create a playlist are:

1. Click on the plus icon at the bottom left hand corner of iTunes.
2. Type the name of the playlist you would like to create and press ⌅
3. Drag song/songs from your music library to your newly created playlist

The second step is to launch Automator (Applicatioons/Automator) and create the workflow. The steps are as follows.

1. Select the System library and double click the Set Computer Volume action to add it to your workflow. You will want to drag the volume slider in the workflow pane so as to ensure that you can hear your alarm if the system volume was previously muted.
2. Select the iTunes library and double click the Set iTunes Volume action. Again, drag the volume slider to your desired volume.
3. Double click the Get Specified iTunes Item action. A dialog box will prompt you to select the songs or playlists that you desire. Select the playlist you would like to wake up to and click Add.
4. Double click the Start iTunes Playing action.
5. Double click the Start iTunes Visuals. You can configure the iTunes visual action within the workflow to display full screen, small, etc.
6. Test your work flow by pressing ⌘R

Once you have verified your workflow, you will need to save the workflow as a Plug-in for iCal

1. Press ⌘⌥S or go to File/Save As Plug-in
2. Type in the name for the Plug-in and select iCal Alarm from the Plug-in for: drop down dialog box.
3. Click Save

Once you click Save iCal will launch and an event will be placed in iCal at the current time. You can change the date and time of this event or you can create new events. To create a new iCal event with the iTunes alarm:

1. Double click on the date you would like to set the alarm.
2. Type in the name of the event
3. In the information pane click on the alarm text and select Open File.
4. Select the file you would like to open (e.g. Alarm) and you are all set.

This is a very simple example of how automator can be used to automate tasks. The Sage has an alarm that he uses which not only plays his desired tunes but also uses the voice utility to create a reading of his RSS feeds, convert that to an audio file, and load it onto his iPod.

Technorati Tags: Automator, iTunes Alarm Clock

One of the problems with long url’s is that, when you paste them into an email message, the url can be broken by a line break. There are two solutions to this problems. The first is using the edit link feature in apple mail. To use this method highlight any text within the body of your email message, right click (⌃click), and choose edit link from the contextual menu. In the edit link dialog box paste the obtrusively long URL. The text will appear to the recipient as a hyperlink (assuming they accept HTML formatted email).

The second answer to this problem is tiny urls. You can take any long and complex url and enter into the tiny url conversion tool at tinlyurl.com. The site will output a url that looks something like http://tinyurl.com/2t6wrs. The only problem with this approach is that it is inconvenient. In comes tinyURL.service from RiverDark Studios. When you download and install tinyURL.service three menu items will appear in the services menu.

1. Shrink URL
2. Shrink URL and copy to clipboard
3. Shrink URL to clipboard

You can highlight any url and choose Shrink URL to clipboard from the services menu and paste it anywhere you would like. Take it a step further, you can add a keyboard shortcut to Shrink URL to clipboard. In doing so you can copy, convert, and paste with two keyboard shortcuts and a pear tree.

Technorati Tags: TinyURL.service, TinyURL, Edit Link, Apple Mail, Long URLs

In this episode The Sage shows you how to install applications in OS X (difficulty level: easy breezy)

You can watch this episode here.

The application installation process is a little less than intuitive for newcomers to OS X. But, once you know how it works, you will love the simplicity and speed of the process. So, let’s get started.

1. Beg, borrow, or steal your application of choice.
2. Double Click the .dmg file (e.g. Joost.dmg) wherever it may reside (Desktop, CD, etc.)
3. This will mount a disk image that may nor may open in finder. If it doesn’t, double click the disk image

4. You are almost done. Now you need to copy the application (e.g. Joost.app) to a folder. The folder you want to copy to is called, believe it or not, Applications. The easiest way to do this is to simply drag and drop the application into the Applications folder. To do so open a new finder window (⌘N) and go to applications (⌘⇧A). Then drag the application into that folder.

   • Advanced users may choose to perform this entire feat via quicksilver or the command line
5. That’s it

Summary:
Double Click .dmg file –> Drag the application to the Applications folder.

Once you have done this you may delete the .dmg file and eject (⌘E) the disk image on the desktop.

It is probably worth noting that you will be prompted to authenticate the installation when you release the application into the Applications folder if you are running as a user without administrative privileges (if you are not… you should be). The prompt will ask you for the username and password of an account with administrative privileges. Simply type that into the dialogue box.

Technorati Tags: Application Installation, How to Install Applications in OS X, HeySage Podcast

In this episode The Sage shows you how to create a keyboard shortcut for any menu item in any application (difficulty level: easy).

You can watch this episode here.

There is a very useful feature within OS X that allows users to setup keyboard shortcuts for any menu item, both system wide and within specific applications. This episode uses Microsoft Word as an example, although the following steps could be applied to any application or globally. Let’s get started.

In almost every application within OS X the keyboard shortcut ⌘⇧S will open a Save As… dialog box. As much as The Sage loathes word, he finds that he is forced to use it, especially for its document tracking capability. Of course, Word is one of the only applications that does not have a keyboard shortcut for Save As…. So this is how to create one.

1. Open System Preferences (Apple/System Preferences…)
2. Click on Keyboard & Mouse
3. Select the Keyboard Shortcuts Tab
4. Click the + button to create a new shortcut
5. In the Keyboard Shortcut dialog box select the application from the drop down menu. If the application is in a subfolder (i.e. applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Microsoft Word.app) you will have to navigate to the application through other.

6. Type in the Menu Title exactly as it appears in the application menu. For this example you must type

   S-a-v-e-space-A-s-⌥; (Save As…)

7. Highlight the Keyboard Shortcut box and press your desired keyboard shortcut. For consistency The Sage recommends ⌘⇧S

8. Click Add
9. Presto Chango! You are done. All you need to do is relaunch Word (or whatever application you are creating the shortcut in).

Send comments here.

Technorati Tags: Keyboard Shortcuts in OS X, Shortcuts, Menu Items