I am a Mac owner who bought Hazel, an application that will do a number of different tasks to your files based on certain rules. (Think of it as Outlook rules for your Mac desktop.) However, I've really found myself stumped as to what to do with it, and it's basically just been sitting on my machine unused. If you have it, what do you do with it? If you don't have it or have a Windows machine, do you have any good ideas for rule logic, or automated rules, to apply to files on your desktop, anyway? Looks like it'll auto-run AppleScripts and Unix shell scripts, too. Basically looking to tap other people's minds on this one since my own seems to be balking at this particular mental problem. Thanks. [more inside]
posted on Jul 31, 2008 - 8 answers

SETUP: -One PowerMac G4 running OS 10.4 -One Macbook Pro running OS 10.5.4 -One Airport Extreme (older UFO model) on 802.11g For a long time I've had a home network between my desktop and my Airport. I never had any problems with signal or anything. About a year ago I purchased a Macbook Pro and set it up for my network. The only problem is that on my Macbook I consistently get fluctuating signal strength and my network often just disappears all together. [more inside]
posted on Jul 29, 2008 - 3 answers

Tell me how to enable video encryption between iChat on Leopard and AIM on Windows XP. [more inside]
posted on Jul 9, 2008 - 1 answers

What basic, personal accounting software do you recommend? [more inside]
posted on Jun 24, 2008 - 15 answers

Can you suggest a simple 2d drawing program for Mac OS X (Tiger)? I'd like something with the simplicity of MS Paint. I'm trying to draw some very simple line diagrams. If it's free (or cheap) that would be good. [more inside]
posted on Jun 4, 2008 - 11 answers

Help a PGP/GPG noob hold a key signing party. [more inside]
posted on May 26, 2008 - 12 answers

Is there a way that I can access some very old PDF files that are encrypted with a password I cannot remember any longer? I have a system running Mac OS X (Leopard), and I do need to do the decryption myself. [more inside]
posted on May 16, 2008 - 12 answers

Is there a QuickLook plugin (for Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" if you didn't follow) to browse sqlite databases? If not, wouldn't that be awesome for Rails and iPhone development!
posted on May 8, 2008 - 2 answers

Is there a way for Leopard to bind a hosts file to a location in Network Preferences? [more inside]
posted on Apr 8, 2008 - 4 answers

Please recommend good entertainment console emulators for Mac OS X Intel. [more inside]
posted on Mar 11, 2008 - 8 answers

Can I drag & drop Safari from one hard drive to another? I accidentally deleted the application:-( I don't have the original install DVD with me right now, but I do have a backup on an external drive that's about two weeks old. So, I dragged the Safari.app that was on that to the Applications folder on my Powerbook. Everything seems to be functioning okay.....or am I inadvertently running a browser with a bunch of loopholes & missing parts? [more inside]
posted on Mar 5, 2008 - 3 answers

I would like to save an Excel spreadsheet onto the desktop of a computer for people to look at, but not to modify. I know how to protect the sheet to make it read-only or to require a password to modify it, but is there any way for me to prevent people from deleting it all together? I should add that the computer on which I want to have the file is running Mac OS X. Is there a way to make a file un-deletable? It is a public computer, so it must always be logged in under the same user name.
posted on Feb 12, 2008 - 12 answers

Help! My laptop is a nightmare of unorganized .pdfs, and if I have to create any more staggered files I might just lose my mind. Is there a program specifically designed to help me manage this deluge of information? [more inside]
posted on Feb 7, 2008 - 31 answers

I'm looking for a file browsing and HTML- and media-viewing interface that can be set up on a Mac OS X machine locally and accessed through a web browser. Remote access not necessary; I'm just looking for a local interface. [more inside]
posted on Feb 7, 2008 - 6 answers

Are there any small Mac applications that you wish existed but doesn't? [more inside]
posted on Jan 24, 2008 - 29 answers

What is the best application (hopefully easy to learn) that will let me build an easy to create timeline of religions, myths, and cults, with the option to click on (or hover the mouse over) different highlighted words to show up more information? Or does anyone know where said timeline exists? [more inside]
posted on Jan 20, 2008 - 9 answers

I'm experiencing a strange bug on my macbook pro: with little cause (perhaps a slight mouse gesture, though I have no mouse gesture programs installed), the os will switch to the Stickies application (and sometimes iTunes, when I quit Stickies). I can't figure out what's going on. [more inside]
posted on Jan 9, 2008 - 3 answers

Using Preview for PDFs, what can I do to maximize the size of the text as they appear on printouts? [more inside]
posted on Dec 7, 2007 - 17 answers

I noticed this morning in my system logs that I had some failed FTP and SSH login attempts from an IP in China. I thought I was going to have get all Cliff Stoll on this guy, but then looking back further I saw that this has been happening for months, from lots of different IP addresses. [more inside]
posted on Dec 5, 2007 - 9 answers

I'm working on a quick Automator workflow and need some help replacing the local hostname in a series of URLs. [more inside]
posted on Nov 26, 2007 - 3 answers

I have a 100 GB drive in my Macbook. Formatted, it appears as as 92.7 GB according to the Leopard Disk Utility. I've used 37.7 GB, and both the Disk Utility and Finder state that I have 47.3 GB free. So where's the missing 7.7 GB? [more inside]
posted on Nov 23, 2007 - 12 answers

Mac OS X filter: In terminal, if I go to / and ls, I see a bunch of folders that are hidden in Finder, for example /etc, /private, /sbin, and so on. How do I add a folder to that list? [more inside]
posted on Oct 24, 2007 - 8 answers

I have a folder of about two thousand .png files. For each file, I need to (1)create a new folder named the same as the currently selected file(minus the extension), and (2)move the file into its eponymous folder. How can I accomplish this using Applescript?
posted on Oct 17, 2007 - 7 answers

What's the deal with Quicksilver? [more inside]
posted on Sep 30, 2007 - 40 answers

I would basically like to rip off, wholesale, some command-line script which will provide me a countdown -- only in days. No years, months, minutes, or seconds. Unfortunately, adapting an existing script is beyond my ken. [more inside]
posted on Sep 27, 2007 - 5 answers

.chm to PDF conversion, Mac OS X. There seems to be no easy way to do it. Does anyone have an effective and trustworthy workflow they can recommend? (more inside) [more inside]
posted on Sep 23, 2007 - 11 answers

Some sound design questions to follow up on this golden moldy oldie... [more inside]
posted on Sep 17, 2007 - 14 answers

How do I automate image redaction with Automator? [more inside]
posted on Sep 13, 2007 - 5 answers

Mac OS X question for you, MeFi. My fiancee's 120 gig hd has 40 gigs missing. [more inside]
posted on Aug 16, 2007 - 16 answers

I'm a software development consultant and am getting frustrated at the number of potential clients slipping through my fingers. I get a good number of interested leads through my website or through referrals (thanks guys) but the ratio of potential clients to paying clients is too low. What might I be doing wrong and how can I help gain these clients? [more inside]
posted on Aug 8, 2007 - 23 answers

I have Mac OS X, with its Unix underpinnings. I have a number of text files through which I did a search-and-replace. Unfortunately, that altered all of the timestamps on the files. I'm trying to restore things via the "Date Created" info. [more inside]
posted on Aug 6, 2007 - 12 answers

I'm seeking personal finance management software for OSX / Palm OS or something web-based. [more inside]
posted on Aug 6, 2007 - 2 answers

I have a strong memory that there's an OS X command-line tool that can dump to the terminal a running log of all disk accesses, including which executable is reading or writing. It was very handy in figuring out what the Mac was doing when the disk was busy but the load was low. Does anyone remember what this was?
posted on Jul 30, 2007 - 9 answers

I need a little help setting up remote admin (VNC) access for Mac OS X 10.4.10 from a Windows client at work. Firewalls on both ends, significant port restrictions at work, and [more inside]
posted on Jul 14, 2007 - 5 answers

How do I freaking install freaking foomatic-RIP on my freaking Mac (OS X 10.3.9)? [more inside]
posted on Jul 11, 2007 - 4 answers

I had a problem recently with my school's network shutting down my dormitory Ethernet port because of some suspicious activity originating from my computer, a MacBook Pro. It occurred when I was not at my computer at all (and it was in a location secure from any other in-person manipulation). I vaguely recall that there exists a program on Mac OS X that records, and asks for confirmation for, every application that tries to send data out over the Internet. Anyone ever see such a thing? [more inside]
posted on Jun 22, 2007 - 3 answers

When I use the magnifying glass in the Mac OS X colour picker, I get a colour value darker than what I clicked on. Why? [more inside]
posted on Jun 21, 2007 - 1 answers

Can Mac OS X Mail be configured to autonomously process email, and based on specific From: and Subject: lines, save the attachment(s) of that email into a specific folder? [more inside]
posted on Jun 19, 2007 - 6 answers

My beloved Mac broke after an attempt to uninstall a buggy Safari with AppDelete. Do I need to reformat or might there be hope for this severely confused n00b? [more inside]
posted on Jun 14, 2007 - 20 answers

How can I define a folder on Mac OSX to be readable and writable to all users that will store all the itunes on that computer and give every user account access? [more inside]
posted on May 23, 2007 - 4 answers

How do I get rid of my local iDisk after getting rid of .Mac? [more inside]
posted on May 9, 2007 - 2 answers

Can I make my backup drive bootable without having to wipe it clean and start over from scratch? [more inside]
posted on May 9, 2007 - 5 answers

What Mac OS X application (or command-line utility) will join RAR files that come in the form filename.r01, filename.r02, etc.? [more inside]
posted on Apr 26, 2007 - 23 answers

Does anyone know where to find a copy of Bungie's classic game Abuse? It seems they made it available for free download and someone promptly made an SDL/OS X port, but all the links from the project page are dead.
posted on Apr 17, 2007 - 8 answers

Is it possible to selectively mirror windows to a second screen (projector) on Mac OS X? [more inside]
posted on Apr 9, 2007 - 7 answers

How can I make the OSX Dock the same for all user accounts? There must be an easier way to do this in 10.4 then logging in as each user and editing the dock manually. I don't want to lock the dock - just make it the same initially for all user accounts.
posted on Apr 2, 2007 - 5 answers

Why does Microsoft Word (OS X v.11) hate PDFs? Or: Please help me make this stats assignment just a little less frustrating. [more inside]
posted on Feb 23, 2007 - 16 answers

Can I talk on my cell phone through my Mac using Bluetooth? [more inside]
posted on Feb 23, 2007 - 8 answers

My 20" intel iMac has gone mildly insane. I have been using it generally without problems for 8 or 9 months now. I have a few "issues": [more inside]
posted on Jan 6, 2007 - 13 answers

SoftwareFilter: help me find a good way to view Firefox pages offline for MacOSX. [more inside]
posted on Dec 31, 2006 - 5 answers