Macgasm » Kenneth Gaines

Firefox Address bar tricks

Kenneth Gaines — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:00:34 +0000

Here are a couple tricks to keep you speeding along without switching to another search bar. The first is auto complete, for some reason my ISP (RR) actually was controlling this until I disabled it. This might be true for your ISP also. So to enable this you must open firefox and create another tab, in the address bar type “about:config” then in the search bar at the top type ” browser.urlbar.autoFill” that will give you result. You need to double click that to make the value true. Simply restart firefox and it will now auto complete based on what you have typed in the past.

The next is letting the address bar become the new search bar. Allowing you to type tags or complete searching and having google search them. Open “about:config” if its not already and search for “keyword.url”. Double click and paste “http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=”, this will now allow you to use google search in the address bar. Enjoy!

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8800GT finally come to first gen. Mac Pro’s

Kenneth Gaines — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:56:51 +0000

After the new Mac Pros were released, you could get an upgraded video card; but for some reason, Apple failed to release this update for the first gen. Mac Pros.Â Apparently, Apple has finally made the upgrade kit that will now let you get the 8800 GT.

Specs:

For advanced graphics performance, choose the latest-generation NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of GDDR3 video memory. With a unified shader core and massive memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT brings advanced performance to graphics-intensive applications like motion graphics, 3D modeling, rendering, and animation. It features a PCI Express interface for a high-bandwidth connection to the Mac Pro and two dual-link DVI ports for connecting up to two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays.
Requires Mac Pro (bus speed 1.33GHz) with PCI-Express
Includes a DVI to VGA connector for easy connection to VGA-based displays
Note to owners of Mac Pro (early 2008): Please select the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (early 2008) Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro.

Grab one HERE

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Macgasm #036 – Sans Josh Episode?

Kenneth Gaines — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:18:28 +0000

Co-Host(s): Kenneth Gaines and Chris Roberts

Apps:

News:

2GB Shuffles”¦and a 49.99 1 GB model
ShoveBox giveaway Reminder

Intro music – Dropkick Murphys – I’m Shipping Up To Boston

Outro music - Matthew Good Band – Everything is Automatic

Note:Â Josh’s iLife really chocked on the last Leopard Update, so all of his loops are MIA.Â Sorry for the change in intro music!

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Add a Trash icon in Finder’s sidebar

Kenneth Gaines — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:01:52 +0000

Today I’m going to show you how to add a new item to that Finder sidebar. For some reason Apple does not include a link to the Trash but to everything else. Well today I will fix that and save you some time in the future. Ok, so lets get started.

Open up the terminal because we need to view hidden folders in Leopard for the moment.
Type “defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES”
then hold your option key and right-click on the finder icon located in your dock. Hit the relaunch.
Now open finder and you will see files that are somewhat transparents or files that begin with “.”.
Now in fider type “cmd+shift+g” all at once and finder will ask you what folder, type “~/.”
Once you hit that you will see a folder called “.Trash” just drag that icon in into the sidebar. Even though the icon is transparent in the finder it looks alright on the sidebar so dont worry about finding a new icon.
Now just enter the terminal again and hit up to bring what you typed back up and take out “YES” and type “NO”. This will take the files back to hidden.

BTW you could rename it to take out that period but you would have to first create a new .trash and create a symbolic link to the new .trash for the sidebar icon to work. Enjoy

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Macgasm #034

Kenneth Gaines — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:18:03 +0000

[Download] [14.4MB] [00:30:10]

Hosted by: Joshua Schnell & Grant Brunner
Guests: Kenneth Gaines

News
* iPod Touch update chat. GB
* Teh PInkz iPODZ NANOS. JS

Apps/Tips
* Shiira is a good alternative bowser. GB
* CSS EDIT JS
* Speed-dial hack for iPhone KG
* Mobile Safari versions of Digg, Facebook, and Google. GB
* Masks in iMovie JS
* Using RSS on the iPod Touch/iPhone. GB

Closing Music: Stars – Your Ex-Lover is DeadÂ

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

Create a website with RapidWeaver

Kenneth Gaines — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:09:10 +0000

Today many people have websites to host a multiple of things. Blogs, photos, video, or just some event. But many people just cant understand how to make a site just due to the overwhelming amount of knowledge you need to create one. This is where RapidWeaver comes in. To put it simply its a template-based website creation tool. RapidWeaver has many different options that allows to you just point and click to create a website. Including:

Blog
Contact Form
File Sharing
HTML Code
iFrame
Movie Album
Offsite Page
Photo Album
QuickTime
Styled Text

Each with its own set of options and within minutes you can have a complete site ready to upload and share with the world. Now RapidWeaver comes with a set of theme’s or styles and each can be previewed with your content just by hitting the “Preview” tab. Lets say you found a great style but don’t like the text color or linked color. Well RapidWeaver has the Page Inspector that allows to customize all settings. Once you get done, just hit “Publish” button and RapidWeaver will ask you for ftp info and BAM you are done. RapidWeaver’s website has many addons for its application either from the company or 3rd party. Worth checking out if you want to add some more content to your site. So head over to www.realmacsoftware.com and download the trial, if you wish to purchase it will set you back $50 and its Leopard ready. Well worth checking out. Enjoy

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Make those Screenshots look clean with Desktopple

Kenneth Gaines — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:00:18 +0000

Ever needed to take a screenshot and had to clean all of those icons from your Desktop before you could? Or maybe you needed to make a presentation and had to tidy up before hooking into the projector for the whole audience to see? Perhaps you just want to hide those messy Desktop icons so you can concentrate better on whatever task is at hand. Or, if you’re like us, maybe you just like a squeaky clean work environment. If so, then Desktopple is for you!

Preference Pane Application

All of the Desktopple preferences are conveniently located in the System Preferences. And if your menu bar is crowded, you can easily remove the Desktopple icon and control it with a hotkey or Automator Action.

Window Cleaning

It’s great that your Mac lets you run multiple applications, but sometimes all those extra windows can be quite distracting. Desktopple can watch you work, and if you haven’t used an application in a specified amount of time, it will hide those apps for you automatically.

Desktopple Pro Widget

The Desktopple Pro widget gives you even more control. A quick trip to the Dashboard lets you start Desktopple Pro, hide the Desktop, and more! Download the Desktopple Pro widget.

Backgound Choices

Make your workspace your own. Choose to hide your Desktop with your regular Desktop image, a different image, a smooth gradient, or a solid color. The choice is yours!

Cover Sets

With Cover Sets, you can easily define several “covers” for your Desktop environment. One for screenshots, say, and another for presentations. Then, you can easily switch from one set to another using the handy menu bar item.

AutoHide

Add applications to the Desktopple AutoHide list, and when you launch those applications, Desktopple will automatically hide your Desktop. What’s more, when you quit those applications, your Desktop automatically fades back into view.

Menu Dimming

Need to focus on the task at hand? Dim the Menu Bar when you hide the Desktop for a distraction-free workspace. You can dim it with a solid color or have it blend in with the background. Great for Getting Things Done!

Desktop Files

When your Desktop is hidden, it’s hard to get to files that you store there. A quick trip to your Desktopple menu will list all the items on your Desktop. Click to open, and keep working.

Multiple Screens

Got more than one Desktop you need to hide? Not only does Desktopple support multiple screens, but you can configure each screen separately.

Ignore ExposÃ©

Set Desktopple to ignore ExposÃ© and you’ll still keep your Desktop covered, even when ExposÃ©-ing.

HotKey Support

Set up a HotKey, and giving yourself a shiny, squeaky-clean Desktop is only a keystroke away.

Automator Support

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Customize Leopard: beyond dock

Kenneth Gaines — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:15:18 +0000

Since the release of Leopard, Mac desktops have never looked better. Adding a whole new look the the desktops user interface. But if you ever wanted to change it up a little. Give it a little more personalize feel among the other standard desktops. Below I will cover some great little applications that you can use.

CandyBar 3 by Panic

The pretty much ultimate app used to change icons, themes, and now docks. The application cost $29 bucks but for a great app like this its worth it. You can visit the icon factory and download tons of great icon sets, themes which some include docks to match the themes. [Candybar3] [IconFactory]

Wallpaper

I have two sources for my wallpaper. One is interfacelift.com and deviantart.com. Both have tons of great wallpaper from different artist. I tend to visit interfaceLift more since I can narrow the selection by putting in my native resolution. [InterfaceLift] [Deviantart]

iTunes Controller

iTunes is the best player out there but sometimes it can be a little annoying to switch back between iTunes and the work you may be doing. Thats where CoverSutra comes in. What coversutra does is add controls, shortcuts, and album cover all to your desktop. Allowing you to quickly change changes and display what is currently playing without have to switch back to iTunes. [CoverSutra] – free alt [YouControl:Tunes]

Beyond the software added is the few tweaks in leopard that you can do. First is changing the background of the finder window to something else besides white. I chose a light-blue which goes well with everything else.

Adding custom searches to the sidebar. Just do a fresh search and hit save. Now that search will be saved among the other on the sidebar. I have one for finding all media files and wallpapers.

Example of the apps in use

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How-to install linux apps in leopard

Kenneth Gaines — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:19:07 +0000

For some of us we have migrated from different operating systems. For myself it was from windows to linux and now mac. When I was running linux I found many great apps that I would love to run in OSX. Well, since OSX is built on a unix environment, this can be done.

First step, you need to pop in your leopard dvd and hit the Optional Install folder. Now got into the xcode tools window,and then you will want to install the xcodetools.mpkg and the X11SDK.pkg which is in the Packages folder. Once you have installed those tools now you can get ready to install macports.

Open your favorite browser and visit MacPorts . This should open a directory containing the .dmg that we need to install. Click the MacPorts-1.5.0-10.5.dmg

Once downloaded just follow through the install window and let it do its thing. Once installed you will not notice anything different except for a macports directory in the applications folder. Now comes the fun part. Open the terminal and type “sudo port -v selfupdate” running this command will update the macports. Pretty much collecting all of the new packages out. This is a command you will need to run atleast once a week just to make sure you stay up to date on the new software versions. At this point all you will need to do is just install pretty much any app you want. Below is a few command syntax examples that will help you with the install/search process.

sudo port -v selfupdate – update the current packages using the verbose method, allow you to see whats going on during the update.
port search [app] – this will allow you to search for an app. example if I wanted to search for irssi I would do “port search irssi” without the quotes.
port info [app] – this will give you info on the current package.
sudo port install [app1] +[app2] – using the + sign will allow you to install multiple apps at once without typing each one out.
port installed – check to see if the app you installed is verifyed. All apps installed should be listed.
sudo port upgrade [app] – upgrade the app
port outdated – list all outdated ports
sudo port upgrade outdated – upgrade all outdated ports

Thats pretty much it. One great thing I love about this is that I can get terminal apps working. So when I’m out all and about, I can just ssh into my machine and start any application. Enjoy :)

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Customize Leopard’s Dock

Kenneth Gaines — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:25:22 +0000

Now that the new Leopard OS is out, people can start messing with the settings and customizing the look. One that has been big is changing the look to your dock. The 3D dock that leopard ships with is very impressive and adds a new fresh look to the OS. In this How-to I’m going to show you how you can change the dock images and replace it with your very own.

Steps To Customize Your Leopard Dock

First open the Finder and navigate to System>Library>CoreServices
Next you will want to right-click on the Dock.app and click “Show Package Contents”
Navigate to Contents>Resources and you will see the scurve.pngs. These are the images that are used to control the look of your dock. So now open a new window and backup all images starting with scurve. Should be only 4 and a image called frontline.png

Now that the images are backed up, delete the current images in your Resources folder and drag the new images into the folder.

Open up a terminal and type “Killall Dock” without quotes. This will restart the dock with your new look. If you dont see the images you will want to make sure that the Resources Folder contains the customized images.

Example of the end product

Download the Files: Here

Kenneth Gaines

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