Restore the Power Key's Pre-Mavericks Behaviour →

August 9, 2014

The release of Mavericks brought about many changes, though one that has been unwelcome to some was the altering of the Power key's default behaviour. Prior to this version of OS X, pressing the Power key would bring up a dialog box asking you to select whether you'd like to Restart, Sleep or Shut Down the Mac.

Now that pressing the key puts the Mac to sleep, it's become a hard habit to break for those that have used the Mac platform for many years. Fortunately, Mac|Life explain how to change this behaviour back using a simple command in Terminal.

New Ebook: Mac Administration Basics →

June 24, 2014

If you’re responsible for the configuration of tens, if not hundreds, of brand-new Macs then you’ll probably know how time consuming it can be to get them all set up. The process of setting up a user account, installing any required software and applying all of the available updates on each and every Mac before handing them to users can be both laborious and horribly inefficient.

Mac Administration Basics brings together six of our previously published guides for easy reference, incredibly useful when wanting to deploy, troubleshoot or configure Macs at home or in the workplace.

Members of The Instructional can download this for free by using their unique coupon code during checkout.

Contents

A Closer Look at System Information
Reset a User Account's Password with an Apple ID
High-Speed Data Transfers with Thunderbolt
Build & Deploy OS X Images with AutoDMG
How to Re-Run the OS X Setup Assistant
Encrypt an External Disk or USB Stick with a Password

Encrypt an External Disk or USB Stick with a Password

June 23, 2014

Whether you're using an external hard drive for backup purposes or to provide additional storage for your Mac, it's important to make sure that whatever information it contains is as secure as possible. By default, an external hard drive can be accessed on any other Mac without hinderance, so even if you have FileVault 2 enabled on your Mac but you're backing up to an unencrypted hard drive, it's rather redundant.

OS X can encrypt volumes located on external hard drives and USB sticks in just a few clicks, making it impossible to view the contents of a volume on *any* Mac unless the correct password is provided.

Offsite: How to Free up Space on iOS →

June 21, 2014

Bradley Chambers has a bunch of great tips on freeing up some space on your iOS device, especially useful for those of us on 16GB devices who are frequently getting close to their capacity.

While some of the tips may seem rather obvious (for example, deleting apps), there's a lot of great information about spring cleaning to reclaim storage space that you may not even realise was missing.

Quick Tip: Easily Change OS X's Audio Sources via the Menu Bar

June 20, 2014

Switching audio input and output sources in OS X is made quick and easy thanks to a keyboard shortcut and contextual menu.

Highly Recommended: StackSocial's Name Your Own Price Mac App Bundle →

June 18, 2014

StackSocial is running a fantastic Mac app bundle for the next few weeks that features a great selection of Mac apps:

While some of these apps are likely to just gather dust in your Applications folder, this bundle is worth it just for Fantastical and Pathfinder alone. Android users will find SyncMate Expert especially useful.

You can pay any amount you wish to get three of the available apps, though paying more than the average price nets you all ten. What makes this bundle extra special is that 10% of the price you pay goes to charity.

I've bought various app bundles over the years thinking that I'll only ever use one or two of the apps but, more often than not, I end up finding a use for them. And if you don't, you could always give the licenses away to a friend or family.

Configure an AirPort Express as an Ethernet AirPlay Receiver

June 17, 2014

The AirPort Express is Apple’s pocket-sized 802.11n wireless router that features AirPlay connectivity via its 3.5mm Analog / Digital audio jack. You can connect it to an existing Hi-Fi or set of speakers and stream audio from any Apple device on your network without having to buy a whole new sound system. Many people (myself included) have taken to using a few of these devices solely as AirPlay receivers that have their wireless functions disabled and connect to an existing network over Ethernet - effectively they’re dumb AirPlay receivers.

Unfortunately, the terribly counterintuitive AirPort Utility app doesn’t make this obvious and, if you bought one with the sole purpose of adding AirPlay functionality to a Hi-Fi via Ethernet, it gives the impression that it isn’t possible as it must do something related to Wi-Fi. This isn’t the case and by delving into the AirPort Utility app we can configure an AirPort Express to suit our needs.

Tracking a Lost Device with Find My iPhone

June 9, 2014

Find My iPhone is a device tracking feature introduced in iOS 4.2. Since then, it’s evolved to include the Mac and iPad and provides iOS and Mac users the ability to track, find and even remotely wipe their device should it go missing.

It’s a feature that many of us will rarely, if ever, use. Even so, if ever a time comes that you might lose your iPhone or have your iPad stolen, it’s well worth knowing exactly how it works so that you can be reunited with it as soon as possible - or at least prevent any confidential information from being accessed.

Highly Recommended: The Doxie One →

June 6, 2014

I'm a big fan of the Doxie One, a fantastic little scanner that makes it so easy to go paperless. It's small and portable, can run off either batteries or AC adapter and all scans are saved to an SD card without the need to connect it to a computer. I've had one for over a year and it's been indispensable, especially when I'm needing to scan in a bunch of receipts or letters the bank still insists on sending through the mail.

The Doxie companion app for OS X can save important documents as OCR text-searchable PDFs and scans can be saved or exported to a range of cloud-based services, such as Dropbox or Evernote.

Until July 4th, the Doxie One scanner is available via StackSocial with free shipping for only $99 (US) or $149 (International).

You can read my guide Go Paperless with Doxie over at Tuts+ to learn about how it can make your life a little less cluttered.

PSA: A Year of Backblaze Cloud Backup is Just $25 for a Limited Time →

June 3, 2014

Backblaze is a great cloud backup service for both Mac and PC and is available for just $25 through StackSocial for a year's subscription, a saving of 50%.

It's completely unlimited with no storage or bandwidth restrictions. As a regular user of the service, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

If you're yet to decide on an offsite backup solution, Backblaze should be at the top of your list.