I’ll be blunt from the start – I’ve got an odd love/hate relationships for Apple Maps. It’s tightly integrated with Apple’s software offerings and it uses scalable vector graphics which means that it zooms well and uses less data relative to tile based solutions. On the other hand, I’m led… Read More
Author Archives: vansmith
The Summer Server Project – Part 3: It lives…and serves.
….it lives. After some time hacking away at the code and ultimately learning a few things about Python, I’ve got a basic workable server up and running. Here are some of the basic features: It serves basic static content (HTML, JavaScript and CSS). The bulk of this is done with… Read More
The Summer Server Project – Part Two: VM Setup
Recap and Introduction In the last article, I introduced what I plan to be a summer long project – writing a basic web server with the intention of learning more about networking. In this article, I outline what I’ve done in the last few days which, although small, gives a… Read More
The Summer Server Project – Part One: Introduction
Introduction Let me start this article with a not so profound claim: I know nothing about networking. Well, nothing might be overstating things but if I had to pick one area where I lack any semblance of detailed knowledge, all things networking would be my impulse answer. This became really… Read More
Experiencing the App Store: A Developer’s Perspective and Rant
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These Permissions Are Not The Repairs You’re Looking For – A Critical Look at Permissions in OS X
So, your Mac is acting up. Indeed, a Mac is no more impervious to Murphy’s Law than a non-Mac PC (I use PC here in the literal sense to signify personal computer). What do you do when the inevitable occurs? The first response for many to this will differ –… Read More
Mac-Forums Investigates MacKeeper
Update (July 27, 2013): Grammar/spelling errors corrected and a short section about Mac-Forums’ relationship to the product was added. Introduction One of the persistent questions around the forum has to do with a piece of software called MacKeeper. A cursory scan of the forum will paint in the minds of… Read More
Mac-Forums Looks at the Other…Other Mobile Platform
Introduction There’s no secret when it comes to my tendency to try the esoteric operating platforms. Why? The simple answer is because they exist and I’ve derived a lot of enjoyment from exploring the unknown. Mobile devices are no exception which sounds weird when the army of mobile devices I… Read More
Advanced – Scripting a Daily Wallpaper
If you’re anything like me, you get bored of your desktop wallpaper easily. Sure, you could have your wallpaper rotate at a regular interval but for those of you who know me, I don’t like easy solutions. In this article, I’m going to show you how to change up your… Read More
A Look at Word Processing for the iPad: Pages and Word
I write…a lot. As a graduate student, it is my “trade,” that activity that occupies the majority of my time and determines whether or not I succeed. Like a journalist or a writer, I consequently live in the rather mundane world of word processing (there’s no way I can make… Read More
Weekly Roundup: April 1 – 7
Here’s the weekly roundup of the more popular discussions around Mac-Forums for the week of April 1st. Blog Posts Clamshell Mode Performance Issues: A Myth? In this article, vansmith explores the myth that clamshell mode might hinder performance, only to discover that this likely isn’t the case. Forum Discussions Member… Read More
Clamshell Mode Performance Issues: A Myth?
Background A while back, I remember hearing a theory floating around that running a Mac in clamshell mode forced OS X to throttle the processor to save on heat. There is a tiny bit of anecdotal evidence to support such a claim (here) which ultimately suggests that something about clamshell mode… Read More
iOS and The State of Innovation
Quite a few people have been commenting on an ostensible lack of innovation on the part of Apple when it comes to iOS. Search the word “stale” in relation to iOS and you’ll find yourself with enough content for a leisurely Saturday afternoon. Is this critique warranted in light of… Read More
The Mysterious File:/// Bug
Recently, there has been a rather silent but important story floating around about an odd bug built into Cocoa (OS X’s application programming interface that, in part, includes the user interface elements of OS X including things like buttons and text boxes). Although not generating a lot of news, this… Read More
Flash v. JavaScript: Is One Really Better Than The Other?
Introduction A quick search of the forums will reveal a particular unabashed bias towards technologies that leverage anything but Adobe’s Flash. To a certain extent, this is justified but should non-Flash based solutions always be the right method of delivering content? To answer this question, I investigated the efficacy of… Read More
Review: CoolerMaster Gear
Jas Pro – Stretch Using a laptop flat on your desk isn’t the best for your posture, unless you have a secondary monitor. Using a stand can bring the screen up to a proper eye level. I’ve recently started using the Cooler Master’s Jas Pro for my MacBook Pro, and it makes a… Read More
IMAP Email and Notifications: How-To
Introduction In this article we’ll look at how you can use Mountain Lion’s notification system to notify you of unread emails for any IMAP account. More specifically, we’ll look at how you can leverage Python and cron to check any email account at a specified interval, notifying you of any… Read More
OS X Mountain Lion: The Mac-Forums Guide
Contents Preamble Upgrading through the Up-to-Date Program Prepping for the Upgrade How to Create Your Own OS X Mountain Lion Install DVD or USB Drive Good News, There’s an App That Will do it For You Do it Yourself Step by Step Create a Bootable USB Installer Create a bootable… Read More
While the MF ML Guide is Under Construction…
As we continue our work on the official Mac-Forums Mountain Lion guide, we provide the following set of links to get you started while you wait. Did you recently buy a new Mac? You many qualify for a free copy of ML. You can find more info about it here.… Read More
Putting Your Apps on a Diet
Given that hard drive size is rarely a concern anymore, developers seem to make an assumption that space is no longer a issue. Despite this, a common complaint in forum posts is a lack of hard drive space. Although the following tip won’t solve all space issues, it can be a valuable… Read More
Simple Print Server using Automator and Dropbox
By the end of this article, you will have set up a folder action for a Dropbox folder such that anything added to it will be printed. With this set up, you’ll be able to print documents from anywhere in the world and/or print content from mobile devices that are supported by Dropbox. Read More
Playing YouTube Videos in VLC
For this week’s quick tip, we’ll explore one of VLC’s more “hidden” features. More specifically, you’ll learn how to play YouTube videos in said media player. This is quite simple and involves only a few steps. Read More
Learning the Command Line (Part One)
You may have stumbled across the Terminal application, having little knowledge of what it was for, you ignored it. I don’t blame you – for 98% of Mac users, it is of little value. Or is it? Read More