I want to minimize my computer-related distractions by taking apps like SelfControl to the next level: I want to not just irreversibly disconnect from the internet for a given time period, but to even make it impossible for me to indulge in my next-favorite mindless pastime, viz. reconsuming old movies/episodes/podcasts I have saved on my HD. But I don't want to permanently delete these things. Is there a way of disabling specific apps (e.g. video players) or preventing access to specific files/folders on a Mac for a preset time period? Or even of preventing my computer from powering up at all for, say, 12 hours? (Yeah, I'm that pathetically addicted.)
posted by zeri
on Mar 3, 2013 -
4 answers
For you tech nerds - do you see it more worthwhile to invest in the new MacBooks or rely on Airs, with extra drives/support for doing occasional video and gfx work? Where is the future headed.
posted by Unred
on Jun 12, 2012 -
12 answers
I have a Western Digital Elements 1 TB External Hard Drive. I uploaded files onto it from a Mac, and want to put those files onto my PC. Problem is, my PC doesn't recognize my hard drive now when I plug it in, and instead asks me to reformat the whole drive (which I previously had to do on the Mac).
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posted by matticulate
on May 27, 2011 -
15 answers
Catwalkedacrossmykeyboard filter: My cat sauntered across the keyboard of my Powerbook G4 (running 10.4.11) while I was using it last night, and now the display-- the desktop-- is responding weirdly to the cursor. Help?
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posted by jokeefe
on Mar 18, 2011 -
7 answers
Please explain to me exactly what is going wrong with my laptop, why doing a particular thing fixes it, and what I need to do to keep it from continually happening, or getting worse.
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posted by Mizu
on May 4, 2010 -
10 answers
Can I use a software program for a more up-to-date version of OS X than mine, without upgrading my entire computer?
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posted by world b free
on May 7, 2009 -
9 answers
I have two G4 PowerBooks that I've wiped, packed with RAM and installed Leopard on. Now how do I make them as parent-friendly as possible?
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posted by killjoy
on Oct 18, 2008 -
13 answers
Can you recommend a good, reasonably priced, external HDTV tuner that will work with a friend's iMac?
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posted by wfrgms
on Sep 13, 2008 -
5 answers
What's the best device I can buy or build for under $300 that will download (over bittorrent), serve, and maybe even play my video files?
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posted by raygan
on Feb 3, 2008 -
16 answers
Some clients of mine have a small consulting business that is rapidly expanding. What started as 1 desktop computer has turned into 4 desktops, 4 laptops (and recently 2 iPhones), and they'll soon be adding some more desktops. They're moving some of the computers out of their home office, and into a "real" office next week and I'm really trying to nail down a good setup for them. I'm looking for your advice on how you've organized a smallish network of Macs, allowing anywhere access of Files, Email, Calendar and Address Book.
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posted by jeffxl
on Jul 25, 2007 -
9 answers
I am going to be buying/building a new computer soon to replace my Powerbook G4 and I am debating whether to get a Windozer or a new Mac. I thought I might be able to build my own X86 machine and install OSX on it using something like
OSX86. Has anyone done something like this?
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posted by Aanidaani
on May 30, 2007 -
12 answers
Help me troubleshoot my printer &/or computer, which is refusing to print! I suspect it's something simple, but there's...
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posted by soviet sleepover
on Dec 15, 2006 -
4 answers
Very stupid question. Can I use Curl to download every image in a directory? (some idiot, knowing we needed 100+ images, put them in some web gallery rather than on an FTP server and I'm stuck on a Mac here) How?
posted by Grod
on Aug 7, 2006 -
9 answers
If anyone can help me with my Mac problem, I will be eternally grateful and may even send brownies. Really, really good brownies.
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posted by LittleMissCranky
on Apr 20, 2005 -
27 answers
Windows Media Player will no longer load in Firefox or Safari. I have reinstalled twice, I remember seeing similar problems with WMP and OS X on AskMe or MeFi (I can no longer find where I saw it) without an answer, help!
posted by scazza
on Feb 16, 2005 -
0 answers
I have an AVI file on a mac. I would like to convert it for use in After Effects and eventual burn onto DVD. I can handle the second part, but I'm having trouble converting the AVI to MPEG. (More Inside)
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posted by shotsy
on Feb 1, 2005 -
6 answers
OS X stumper: My internal boot drive (160 GB) "info" reports 12.4 GB available, 136.63 GB on disk. A bootable (120 GB) clone shows 55.42 GB available, 55.24 GB on disk. I've run Disk Utility and Disk Warrior, repaired and rebuilt and the report persists. (I checked the disk used with "WhatSize" and, while I've not done the math, the rough aggregate of disk used appears to be more in line with the clone, which is what I expect. I am not sure when this apparent mis-reporting began but I know it was recently.) Googling has failed me. What is going on and how do I fix it?
posted by Dick Paris
on Jan 22, 2005 -
14 answers
I have had a gigantic crush on
this product ever since my friend got one. Small (big!) problem though- the software for this specific GPS watch only runs on PC, and I have a PowerBook! (+)
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posted by BuddhaInABucket
on Jan 18, 2005 -
10 answers
Font search! My favorite font for use with the putty SSH client on a Windows machine is fixedsys 9. I'd love to find a version of this font that I can use with Terminal on my Macs at home - but so far I've been unable to find one.
fixedsys.org supposedly had a version at one time, but what they've got available now looks horrible in Terminal (after adding it to the system w/Font Book). Any suggestions?
posted by mrbill
on Jan 13, 2005 -
8 answers
Ad-Culture Filter: Inspired by an odd source, I find myself wondering this morning about some sub-cultural differentiators within ad-shops....[MI]
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posted by lodurr
on Jan 12, 2005 -
7 answers
Is there any way I can get a Vivicam-30 to load on to Mas OS 9 or X machines? Read the history of my attempts to do so over
here. Ta very much!
posted by Wolof
on Jan 12, 2005 -
3 answers
On my Mac OS X 10.3.5 machine, I have two user accounts. Is it possible to set up the Garageband music software so that one of the user accounts contains only the original installation of Garageband loops and effects... and the other user account contains the original installation, plus all other loops and effects I've installed from subsequent Jam Packs?
posted by skylar
on Jan 2, 2005 -
3 answers
I've deleted 4 gigs (after having maybe 5 available on an 80 gig HD) from my powerbook, and now after restart I have only 400 MEGS available. I've repaired permissions, run all the cron tasks, etc. and still no go; I assume filevault is eating up the extra space, but no amount of logging out / shutting down / restarting brings up the Filevault "reclaim unused space?" dialogue. What do I do?
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posted by luriete
on Jan 1, 2005 -
8 answers
[Mac] Back in the System 7 days, Now Save (part of the defunct Now Utilities) allowed for configurable autosaving. Even though NowUtils was often a buggy nightmare, that autosave was such a handy feature, especially after a crash. Despite claims to the contrary, modern applications and OS X still do periodically crash and the unsaved work gets disappeared *groan*. Although a few applications offer their own autosave option, VersionTracker shows no sign that a universal utility exists for OS X. Any suggestions for a good substitute?
posted by nakedcodemonkey
on Dec 9, 2004 -
1 answer
I'm giving away an old tray-loading iMac (256MB, either 266 or 333Mhz, I really can't recall right now) to a friend and have loaded it up with productivity-related stuff. Now I'm looking for games I can download. Freeware and shareware, preferably, as opposed to warez (although if you care to recommend a NES/SNES/etc. emulator ...). In particular, is there a decent FPS I can download for this machine?
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posted by blueshammer
on Nov 5, 2004 -
5 answers
Office for OS X: I've never had trouble sending documents from Mac Office to PC users until this week. Now PC users frequently complain that they cannot open my documents at all. What is wrong? (I've got a properly licensed copy of Office/X)
posted by b1tr0t
on Oct 17, 2004 -
6 answers
Potentially-really-obvious-mac-question-filter. Why does Safari want to open MP3 streams in QuickTime no matter what I do - and how can I stop it?
posted by ascullion
on Oct 15, 2004 -
8 answers
I am about to order an iMac, my first Macintosh. What do you wish someone had told you when you got your first Mac? (mi)
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posted by lbergstr
on Sep 29, 2004 -
46 answers
