We've Moved!

Redirect

2010-02-25T18:08:00.000-08:00

I have moved!

2010-02-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hello. I have moved and renamed the website to http://macintoshstuff.blogspot.com/ because I find that I'm post more than just stuff you can enter in the Terminal to improve or change your Mac. I also renamed it Stuff to know about Mac. Please re-bookmark the website. This website will no longer be updated.

Thank you.

Some Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

2010-01-31T09:37:00.000-08:00

Please note that if the keyboard shortcuts do not work this might be because of your system version, or that you don't have that keyboard shortcut turned on.

⌘+tab = Switch applications. Keep holding down ⌘ after you press tab. Press tab again to go to next application.

⌘+⌥+esc = Force quit applications

⌘+ñ+Q = Log out

⌘+⌥+⏏ = Sleep

⌘+⌃+⏏ = Restart

F12+⏏ = Force eject disk. Only works if held down while starting up.

⌘+⌥+⌃+8 = Invert screen colours.

⌘+⌥+8 = Enable/disable zoom in/out with ⌘+⌥+= (zoom in) or ⌘+⌥+- (zoom out)

fn+⌃+F2 = Focus on menu bar. Use arrow keys and return to navigate.

fn+⌃+F3 = Focus on dock. Use arrow keys to navigate and return key to select.

⌥+any function key. (Along the top of the keyboard.) = Open System Preferences Pane related to to that key.

⌘+ñ+3 = Take screen capture.

⌘+ñ+4 = Take screen capture of certain part of screen. Press space select certain window.

⌘+esc = Enter Front Row.

⌘+Q = Quit current application. Does not work on all applications.

⌘+⌥+Click on weather widget = Rotate through different weather images.

This is just a few of the keyboard shortcuts that are possible. If you have anymore please post it in the comments.

Want more?

2010-01-30T20:13:00.001-08:00

If you like my website I think you should go to http://osxdaily.com/.

Email Me!

2010-01-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

If you have any questions, comments or recommendations please email me at ian.ian@programmer.net.

iPhone Ringtones

2010-01-24T10:47:00.001-08:00

This post really has nothing to do with Terminal.app, but I thought that someone might find this useful. Click here to download all the default iPhone and iPod Touch ringtones. If you have a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch and you somehow deleted the ringtones, you can SSH these back into it by downloading OpenSSH from Cydia and downloading Fugu from here (Fugu is a Mac application that can transfer files to and from servers). I also recommend downloading SBSettings from Cydia so you can turn off OpenSSH when you want to. Then put the ringtones into the folder /Library/Ringtones. You can also put your own ringtones in this folder, just make sure that they are in .m4r format, and that they are 30 seconds or less.

Changing the Volume

2010-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry about not posting for a while. I don't think I will be able to achieve the three times a week goal. I will definitely post at least once a week. This post is about using the osascript command to change the volume. This command is best used with SSH (click here to see my post about SSH,) because you can use the volume buttons on the keyboard if you're in front of the computer. Open Terminal.app then, leaving out the $ sign, type:

$osascript -e'set volume 5'

Please note the the "5" can be replaced by any number from 0 through 7. The lower the number the lower the volume. For some reason I get an error message when I run the command, but it still works as described. Make sure you don't blow your speakers when using this command.

JavaScript

2010-01-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a little JavaScript Application I made. Click here to download it. Once it has downloaded open it with your Java enabled web browser.

Change Login Text

2010-01-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to have a custom message on your login screen? You can use an application like Visage Login that only works for 3 days and then you have to pay for it, or you can use this simple command. WARNING: This is a sudo command so make sure that you type it in correctly. Don't include the $ sign.

$ sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText "Your Message"

This will make the login text Your Message. Replace "Your Message" with whatever you want. Remember to keep the quotation marks when you type the command. If you want to get rid of the text type:

$ sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText ""

Want to know what a command does?

2010-01-11T20:55:00.001-08:00

If you want to know what a command does (don't include the $ sign) type:

$ man ????

Instead of the "????" put the command. Don't put any arguments after the command, put just the first part. (pmset schedule sleep 12/25/2009 13:46 would become pmset) You should always do this before typing something in, even from trusted souces. If the command has "sudo" before it don't include that. Sudo just performs a command as the root user and you will need to be logged in as an admin to use sudo.

SSH

2010-01-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

With SSH you can connect to another computer and type in commands as if you are on that computer. Click here to see information about SSH on Wikipedia. You need to be on the same network to use SSH. Make sure that "Remote Login" (SSH) is turned on on the computer you are attempting to connect to (see my video on how to do that at the bottom of the post) then, leaving out the $ sign, type the following:

$ssh User@10.0.1.4

Replace "User" with the short user name of the user, and replace "10.0.1.4" with the IP address of that computer. After you type the command, you will be asked for the password of the account you are trying to connect to. Type this in then you are done. Now you can type in commands like making the computer speak (type say, then type in the thing you want it to say).

Tested on 10.5 and 10.6

Hello

2010-01-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Welcome. In this blog I will post useful Macintosh Commands. Please note the operating systems that they have been tested on. You will type in these commands in the Terminal. Terminal.app is located here: /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app. Please feel free to subscribe to my blog. I will try to post something at least 3 times a week. Please put your success or failure stories in the comments section. Thank you.