Mac OS X

Protect your keyboard's keys from fading into oblivion

Unlike classic keyboards where characters were small decals stuck on generic keys, many modern keyboards, such as those in Apple's laptops, have keys built for the specific characters. The keys are made of translucent plastic with a black coating so the character can be illuminated with a backlight.

This approach to keys offers great advantage in low-light situations, but it also can be a bit of a burden if the key begins to wear out. While the keys ought to last, after extensive use you may look down to see some of the characters fading away.

When key wear … Read more

New malware variant targets Uyghur Mac users

One of the ongoing malware sagas is a political fight that is targeting Uyghur activist groups in China, where spam e-mail laced with backdoor Trojan horse malware has been continuously delivered to members of these groups in an Advanced Persistent Threat attack.

This week, security company F-secure uncovered yet another variant of this attack being used.

Like prior ones, the new variant takes advantage of old vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word, by sending attachments that will embed the malware in the affected system if the document is opened in an unpatched version of Word.

The malware used has changed a little … Read more

How to make quick work of text navigation in OS X

When composing documents in OS X, sometimes moving the cursor around with arrow keys is more convenient, and a bit more accurate, than using the mouse.

The arrow keys therefore offer a great advantage both in offering a precise input option (one tap moves over one character, or up one line, etc.), but also in that they are right there on the keyboard. However, if you are unfamiliar with the modifiers you can use with the arrow keys to place your cursor faster, you may resort to pressing and holding them to get the cursor where you want it.

Recently … Read more

How to quickly set accessibility options in OS X

OS X includes a number of accessibility options that are intended to help those with disabilities but which could be useful for everyone. For example, the OS X screen-zooming option offers an easy way to increase the size of items on your screen, and the use of sticky keys can help you trigger complex hot keys with one hand where they might otherwise be easier with two.

These features can be set up through the Accessibility system preferences, but if you make use of some of the common ones, Apple has a quick option for accessing their settings.

If you … Read more

Use nettop command to check per-application network activity in OS X

While broadband Internet speeds let you do more online, if your system uses a lot of bandwidth, you might run into some limitations. In some cases, ISPs may throttle your network speed after you have reached a certain usage level, or may even charge you additional fees for the extra bandwidth used. In other cases, a constant upload or download from one system may saturate your bandwidth and greatly slow down Internet-based activities for the other computers that share the connection.

For the most part, programs will not use a great amount of bandwidth, but there are times when one … Read more

Apple sets WWDC for June 10-14

This year's edition of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the place to find out about what's in the works for Mac OS and iOS, is set for June 10 to 14.

The five-day event will take place at San Francisco's Moscone West Center, bringing together Apple executives and engineers with developers from around the world working on apps and other software technologies for the iPhone, iPad, and Macs.

"Our developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we're excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to … Read more

Apple's Q2: By the numbers

Wall Street will have to make up its mind about Apple's downbeat forecast for the next quarter. But the company came in ahead of estimates during its first second quarter. Here's how Apple fared in the quarter compared:<>uct:

iPhones: 37.4 million iPhones compared to 35.1 million year-over-year iPads: 19.5 million compared to 11.8 million year-over-year Macs: 3.95 million, compared to 4 million year-over-year iPods: 5.7 million compared to 7.7 million year-over-year iTunes revenue up 28% App Store now in 155 countries and 350,000 apps 91 million visitors … Read more

How to check Bluetooth connection strength in OS X

Bluetooth devices we attach to our Macs include everything from phones to mice, speakers, and printers. As with any connection there may be instances when the device will not connect, or continually drops its connection to the Mac. These issues can be frustrating to deal with, but should this happen there are a couple of things you can do to check the connection and hopefully increase its stability.

Similar to Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth uses a radio as a means of communication, so if you are experiencing drop-outs then the first thing to do is check the signal strength, which is … Read more

How to add line breaks between list items in OS X Mail

When composing messages in OS X Mail, you have the option to use the program's built-in list tool to keep numbered or bulleted lists properly formatted, but you may find its formatting options to be a bit limited.

The list generator is not intended to be a complex option; however, by default it only displays one list entry per paragraph, so if you attempt to create a line break to separate list items or add multiple paragraphs per item, the default behavior is to simply append new list entries.

This can be a bit annoying to deal with, and … Read more