Mac Tips

AppZapper: Delete Application Files

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:52:02 -0400

AppZapper is an application made to remove unneeded support files when you delete an application. By default some applications create files such as preferences and store them in various places on the mac. Just dragging the application to the trash doesn’t remove these files. Enter AppZapper.

Download an install AppZapper. Then, when ever you want to remove an application, open AppZapper and drag the application icon to the window with the caption “Drag Apps Here”. Then double check that you do want to remove the files shown and click Zap (if you don’t want to delete a certain file, just uncheck it). You can also drag unwanted applications to the AppZapper icon, rather than opening it first.

This will help keep your computer free of useless files and in the long run give you extra space for files that you need.

Spotlight: Dictionary And Math

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:56:33 -0400

Spotlight is a very powerful tool for searching your entire Mac, and it has some other features that are less known, but just as useful.

For instance, type a word into the spotlight search bar, and it will provide you with a definition. Hover your mouse above it in the search results, and it will display the full definition.

It can also be used to perform calculations. Type in an equation, such as “2*5/8” (2 times 5 divided by 8) and it will give you 1.25. It can perform the basic calculations:
- plus
- minus
- times
/ - divided by

It can also perform many other complex functions as well. The following is a complete list of all the functions spotlight is capable of doing (list shows first the abbreviated function, then the description, and then an example, separated by - signs):

acos - inverse cosine, in radians - acos(0.123)

acosd - inverse cosine, in degrees - acosd(0.5)

acosh - inverse hyperbolic cosine - acosh(3.627)

asin - inverse sine, in radians - asin(0.123)

asind - inverse sine, degrees - asind(0.5)

asinh - inverse hyperbolic sine - asinh(3.627)

atan - inverse tangent, in radians - atan(0.12345)

atand - inverse tangent, in degrees - atand(0.5)

atanh - inverse hyperbolic tangent - atanh(3.627)

cbrt - cube root - cbrt(27)

ceil - integer no less than - ceil(3.25)

cos - cosine of x, where x is in radians - cos(0.123)

cosd - cosine of x, where x is in degrees - cosd(60)

cosh - hyperbolic cosine - cosh(2.34)

erfc - complementary error function of x - erfc(3.89)

exp - exponential e^x - exp(3)

fabs - absolute value - fabs(-3.25)

fact - factorial of x - fact(8)

floor - integer no greater than - floor(3.25)

fmod - floating-point remainder of x/y - fmod(3.2,4.5)

hypot - Euclidean distance - hypot(3,4)

j0 - bessel function of first kind or order 0 - j0(0.5)

j1 - bessel function of first kind or order 1 - j1(0.5)

lgamma - log of gamma of x where x>0 - lgamma(3.234)

ln - natural log - ln(3.5)

log - log base 10 - log(5)

pow - exponential x^y - pow(3,2)

rem - remainder - rem(3,4)

rint - round to nearest integer - rint(4.375)

sin - sine of x where x is in radians - sin(0.1234)

sind - sine of x where x is in degrees - sind(30)

sinh - hyperbolic sine - sinh(2.34)

sqrt - square root - sqrt(9)

tan - tangent of x where x is in radians - tan(0.123)

tand - tangent of x where x is in degrees - tand(26.56)

tanh - hyperbolic tangent - tanh(2.34)

x! - factorial of x - fact(8)

y0 - bessel function of second kind or order 0 - y0(0.5)

y1 - bessel function of second kind or order 1 - y1(0.5)

Quicktime: Using Flip4Mac to Play WMV Files

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:04:36 -0500

Many people get movies from windows computers and are unable to play them on their Macs. This is really a problem with Quicktime, but luckily there is a solution. That would be Flip4Mac.

1. Download Flip4Mac at the following link:

Flip4Mac

Expand the .dmg file and double click the Flip4MacWMV.mpkg file to install the plugin. It will install a pane in system preferences where you can change the preferences.

3. Now every time you open a WMV or WMA file, it will open with Quicktime and play flawlessly.

Spotlight: Re-Indexing

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:45:20 -0500

Spotlight is a great tool to find anything on your Mac - quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately after some time (and especially if you are creating many new files) it will slow down and not include many items in its search result. To fix this, a simple procedure is needed. Spotlight has to be reindexed.

Open system preferences and click on Spotlight. Then go into the Privacy tab.
Next drag your hard drive (from the desktop) into the window entitled “prevent spotlight from searching these locations.
Select your hard drive in the window and click the little minus sign in the bottom left corner of the window to remove it. Spotlight will immediately begin reindexing the drive.

This process can take a bit of time depending on how many files you have on your Mac. I suggest letting it run overnight because you will not be able to use spotlight while it is indexing your drive. Once it is finished, it will work like new - quickly and efficiently, like it is supposed to. Whenever you notice it missing certain things, just repeat the process.

iWeb: Create Favicons With iWeb Expander

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:12:53 -0500

Although iWeb does not allow you to create favicons natively, there is a workaround. Follow the steps below, and your website will have favicons in no time.

Create your favicon.
Essentially you need to make a tiny picture that somehow relates to your site. This picture needs to be in the .ico format. You can use a site such as CoolText to easily create this image and save it as a .png. Then go here to convert it into a .ico file.

Download and install iWeb Expander.
Download iWeb Expander. Install it.

Upload favicon to your site.
Launch iWeb Expander and click on the Favicon tab. Then in the Favicon URL type the following:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/YOURSITE/favicon.ico
Then in the Choose Favicon, navigate to your favicon and select it.
Then click the choose iWeb site, and navigate to your site’s folder. Then click Add Favicon.

Re-upload site.
Then you need to upload your site again, and your favicon will appear. Unfortunately every time you upload your site, you will need to Add the favicon again using iWeb Expander.

Check out the other cool features of iWeb Expander such as Backup Site, Hitcounters, and Google Search.