TidBITS - Apple News and More

TidBITS is still one of my favorite sites for Apple news - check it out and bookmark it if you haven't! The site contains a great deal of content about Apple trends, software releases and updates, hardware rumors and even extensive editorial-style essays on current events and the role of Apple products in those current events.

As an aggregator of content, TidBITS frequently links to the best articles on the web related to Apple products. The sections menu at the left of the page allow you to drill down by topics including: Business Apps, Entertainment, Just for Fun, Media Creation and Problem Solving.

Here are some recent articles from the site:

• How to Relocate a Dropbox Subfolder to Another Disk
• What Apple Data the U.S. Government Can and Cannot Access
• A Technical Dictionary That Fits the Definition of User-Friendly
• iPhone 5 coming to Virgin Mobile next Friday for $550
• Apple TV Update Adds HBO GO, ESPN, and More
• Why Do So Many People Fail to Back Up?
• Life After Slots: What the Mac Pro, External Hardware Mean for Production

Want to Speed Up Apple Mail?

It’s really easy:

1) Close mail

 

2) Using Terminal run this command:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope\ Index vacuum;

3) Move the following file somewhere else or delete it (I moved it in case :-) ):

 

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail

 

4) You are done restart mail and all good.

Of course do a backup before doing all this.

Courtesy https://discussions.apple.com/people/Incito%20Networks from https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4658459?start=0&tstart=0

Excited about Apple "iRadio" Announcement?

There are some big rumors floating around about today’s announcements at the WWDC.

Here’s are the apple iradio rumors found by searching Google. We also expect iOS 7 to give up most of the skeuomorphic designs of icons and built-in apps. Personally, I love a touch of skeuomorphism in my software, like calendar programs that have a traditional calendar-like design, but I am also cool with eliminating fancy leather trim appearances around the calendar because it’s those kinds of touches that explain why our systems with extremely powerful processors don’t function that much faster when doing basic things like word processing, spreadsheet analysis and even vector drawing.

More posts to come when we know more. I highly recommend CNET’s coverage of the WWDC as the conference goes live.

Free Mac Apps!

There are some great websites to locate the best free applications for Mac OS X.

Some are easier to navigate, while others are more comprehensive. A site with nice categories and well-vetted applications is called Free Mac Apps. Here you can find a choice crop of web browsers, PDF editing and viewing tools, graphics apps, video converters and players, alternatives to the default Mail application and even handy utilities for unarchiving RAR files, burning DVDs and audio editing.

Recommended top apps from that site include VLC, MPlayer, Burn and Open Office. Burn is especially handy and lean if you need to share files or even make video DVDs for your friends who use Windows or Linux operating systems.

App Donkey is an example of a more comprehensive freeware site. The site hosts descriptions and links to more than 1200 applications in many categories including audio, business and office, development tools, productivity and utilities. This is a great place to browse and discover something you didn’t even know you needed until you found it! It’s definitely happened to me many times.

One of the goals of this blog is to help you learn to use your Mac even better with the apps and features built-in without any additional software purchases. You might find that things you think need an extra app are already easy to do in the native operating system once you know how to use OS X better. There are some good tips for novices (and even a few for experienced Mac users) in Macs All-in-One For Dummies on Amazon for just $23.31.

We’ll get back to other free Mac websites in a future post, so until then, happy computing!

Getting to Know the Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge

I’ve been using Growly Notes to collect the solutions to problems I've encountered using my Apple products since becoming a total convert in 2008. If you are a big fan of Apple products and the software you need to power them, this blog might help you find just the answers you need to get the most out of your (often expensive) purchases. 

Your suggestions are appreciated. I'll try to address topics that you want to know about and post links to the best products including special discount offers and limited time promotions. 

With any luck, we'll both become more knowledgeable about the power of Mac OS X and iOS to make almost any task easier and more effective. 

Apple has a long history of greatness, and while the products they make are (even now) mocked for simplicity, the higher costs for similar classes of machines (computers, phones, MP3 players), the equipment has noticeably greater performance when compared to a machine with the same internal hardware (CPU, graphics adapter, etc) running a version of Windows from the same year.

Now, the a little nostalgia. The image below was the original logo for Apple Computer Company:

Within a year, the logo became the standard-bearer we know today, minus a few changes over the years to coincide with the company’s move from a solo focus on computers to consumer (and professional) electronics and software.

Finally, today’s logo, a simple but iconic representation of taking a bite (or byte) out of knowledge:

Thanks for reading! More posts featuring all sorts of topics to come soon!