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How to fix “This file is damaged and can’t be opened” in Mac OS X
Yesterday I was trying to open an installer which was offered as a .dmg file. That’s a disk image which mounted itself fine, but when I ran the installer contained in the disk image, all I got was an...
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How to copy a CentOS ISO to USB on Mac OS X
Windows users have a great free tool called ISO2USB which efficiently transfers ISO images to a USB stick. Mac users don’t have such a luxury – at least I haven’t found one yet. Instead we can make use...
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How to find your CPU details from the command line
It’s often necessary to know what the exact type of CPU that’s installed on your system. For example, you may need to know if you’re dealing with a dual core or quad core system, or a 32/64 bit system....
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How to show uptime and reboot history on your Mac the command line
Usually the top command shows you how long a Linux system is up and running – but sadly not on OS X, or Darwin more specifically. There is however a command line tool with the descriptive name uptime...
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How to prevent your MacBook from sleeping when you close the lid
There’s a built-in command line tool in every Mac called caffeinate that prevents your computer from going to sleep, even when the lid is closed. This is the default behaviour if an external monitor...
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How to disable the ultra annoying Startup Sound on Mac OS X
I passionately *H*A*T*E* the startup chime that my Mac makes when I switch it on. At least on my MacBook, if the volume is turned down before I shutdown, the system restarts silently. I guess it’s...
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How to show hidden files in the Mac Finder
Hidden files start with a . on UNIX like systems and OS X is one of them. While we can show hidden files in a Ternimal session by using something like ls -a, it’s not so easy to convince the Finder to...
View ArticleHow to start Mac OS X Yosemite in Safe Mode
Hold down SHIFT during normal boot, until the loading bar appears. It will take longer than usual to start the system. Some services are not available. Safe Mode will clear several caches and verify...
View ArticleHow to reset the PRAM (or NVRAM) on your Mac
On a recent chat with Apple support, the representative suggested I reset my PRAM. From what I understand this will clear BIOS like values that may cause a Mac to malfunction. It only takes a second to...
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How to kill the “accept incoming connections” dialogue on your Mac forever
Have you ever come across the above dialogue, asking if you’d like to “accept incoming network connections” on your Mac? It’s caused by the Firewall and it’s meant to be helpful. Because if you have an...
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OS X Server vs. Parallels Desktop – Overhead Differences
Ever wondered if there’s a difference in overhead and memory usage when you’re using a VM instead of OS X directly? Here’s a comparison for website hosting. The above graph shows the difference of...
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How to use the new Apple System Font SAN FRANCISCO on your website
Apple have a new System Font in El Capitan and all of their other products starting 2015: it’s called San Francisco. It’s very similar to their previous font Helvetica Neue, but apparently San...
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How to burn an ISO image with OS X El Capitan
Sometimes it’s important that things change for no apparent reason. You know, the way they move things around in supermarkets just to drive you crazy. If you’ve tried burning an ISO image to disk in...
View ArticleHow to see which users are logged in on OS X and Linux
There are two funky commands that can help us see who’s currently logged in, and what operations were performed last. Those two commands are who and last. Let me show you how to use them. The who...
View ArticleHow to disable System Integrity Protection on OS X El Capitan
System Integrity Protection was introduced in El Capitan to add another layer of security to OS X. The system prevents the root user from doing things that are potentially harmful. Apple did this...
View ArticleHow to check the Fan Speed on your Mac
Sometimes you may want to know how fast your fans are spinning, more as a “number value” rather than a “noise value”. While you can hear when your Mac in front of you is working hard, it’s impossible...
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How to connect your Xbox 360 Controller to Dolphin for Mac
I’ve been experimenting with the marvellous Dolphin Emulator recently. It’s an open source project that allows us to play Nintendo Gamecube and Wii games on modern hardware. Dolphin is available for...
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How to switch off Developer Beta Downloads on Mac OS X
A while ago I thought it would be fun to run the OS X Developer Betas on my MacBook Pro. That was before El Captain was released. Once the buzz had died down I grew a little tired of the bi-weekly...
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How to make Notes App sync properly on iOS
Have you ever wondered why some notes seemingly sync just fine between your iOS devices, but others do not? Wether a note is not fully updated, or you find a duplicate entry in the list, it can be an...
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How to kill a Mac App via the Command Line
Sometimes it’s’ necessary for us to force-close an app on our Mac if it’s no longer responding to our commands. Usually we’d do that by pressing CMD+OPT+ESCAPE, which brings up a handy window from...
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