Andy's Un-Official Unsolicited Mac Advice Thread

RogersDA · August 15, 2008

cmason wrote:

You simply either drag icon to trash, or right click on icon and choose 'eject'

if icon isnt on desktop, then go to Finder>Preferences>General...check what you want on your desktop, in this case assume this in an external drive, so check that box, then icons will show when mounted, not with unmounted

That's what I have - Show Hard disks, External disks, and CD, DVDs, iPods are are checked. However, neither of the optical drives do not show on the desktop. All I have shown are the two internal drives and the two external drives.

cmason · August 15, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

That's what I have - Show Hard disks, External disks, and CD, DVDs, iPods are are checked. However, neither of the optical drives do not show on the desktop. All I have shown are the two internal drives and the two external drives.

optical will only show when there is a disk in them

DavidTO · August 15, 2008

CatOne wrote:

Uh oh... maybe you'll hold out on me now with that lens

Note though, that you _can_ use the Keychain in combination with Safari's autofill to automatically fill in username/password info on pages, much the same way that 1Password can. Safari Preferences->AutoFill, check "User Names and Passwords" and it will do about the same.

1Password does have some nice things, but there are a few things that bug me about it:

1) It's a browser plug-in which is unsupported by Apple, and which can cause issues. I had an issue with Safari crashing daily for a couple weeks and it was due to a bug in 1Password. Debugging this stuff is annoying. Filing a bug with Apple engineering and having them point to the point in the stack trace where it shows it's 1Password... embarrasing

2) It's sorta like Hotel California. Put your usernames and passwords in there, and I don't know how you can easily get them out. You can import from the Keychain to 1Password, but you can't get the stuff out when you quit as it hashes its passwords within they Keychain itself.

3) They're generally pretty quick to support new browser release from Apple (usually within a day of release), but I sometimes use pre-release versions (and right now I'm using Webkit) and they're not always compatible. This is largely self-imposed by living on the bleeding edge, but it can cause issues. I quit using PithHelmet for largely the same reasons -- #1 and #3 -- even though it was a fairly good ad blocking plug-in.

1) The beta version is no longer a browser extension.

2) It uses Keychain. They're always available to you.

3) Sure, you can use Keychain with Safari, with more limited functionality, but I do need to use other browsers at times.

DavidTO · August 15, 2008

Turns out I'm wrong on 1).

From their forums (re: browser extensions):

This would only come into play of you wanted to use the main app and never use it in the browsers. (which you basically wouldn't want to)

In the past it would just install them automatically. We were informed that this wasn't nice behavior. Thus, the change.

You'll still need them. You're just not forced to install them.

This is what their release notes say about the beta:

This build adds full support for using 1Password without browser extensions.

DavidTO · August 15, 2008

DavidTO wrote:

Turns out I'm wrong on 1).

From their forums (re: browser extensions):

This is what their release notes say about the beta:

But Apple doesn't seem to mind the extensions thing TOO much!

Mike Lane · August 15, 2008

TO, the high-pressure sales guy.

Here's my problem, my wife occasionally logs into various things on her (EEEK!) windows machine. If I go making every password a 256 UTF-8 character string (or whatever), then she'll never be able to get into the various accounts.

They do have https://my.1password.com/ in private beta right now. If that's something that can allow Beth to get the passwords when she needs them, then I may have found a new password management solution.

But I won't be able to know if that meets my needs until they let me into the beta pool.

RogersDA · August 15, 2008

What batch file renaming software are you all using? I am looking for cheap s/w for batch renaming my photos (inserting one or more characters in specific locations, deleting characters, etc.)?

DavidTO · August 15, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

What batch file renaming software are you all using? I am looking for cheap s/w for batch renaming my photos (inserting one or more characters in specific locations, deleting characters, etc.)?

I use and love A Better Finder Rename.

W.W. Webster · August 15, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

There are no icons on the desktop for me to drag to the trash/eject icon in the dock.

RogersDA wrote:

Still - how would you do it in the Mac?

Click on any other disk that is on the desktop and you should be able to see your optical drives listed under 'Devices' along with all other disk drives.

If you then click on the up-arrow alongside the optical drive you want to eject, that should do it, I reckon!

colourbox · August 15, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

What batch file renaming software are you all using? I am looking for cheap s/w for batch renaming my photos (inserting one or more characters in specific locations, deleting characters, etc.)?

Depending on what's open at the time or what I need...

Adobe Bridge or Lightroom (OK but limited)
iView Media Pro (better) I have not used its current version, Microsoft Expression Media
Renamer4Mac (great, but recently went shareware instead of freeware)
NameMangler (great, free, Leopard-only)

Some people use Automator to rename files.

DavidTO · August 15, 2008

colourbox wrote:

Depending on what's open at the time or what I need...

Adobe Bridge or Lightroom (OK but limited)
iView Media Pro (better) I have not used its current version, Microsoft Expression Media
Renamer4Mac (great, but recently went shareware instead of freeware)
NameMangler (great, free, Leopard-only)

Some people use Automator to rename files.

Yah, I should say that I've been using Better Finder Rename since the days on OS9, and maybe even before. I've not researched the latest. NameMangler looks great for the price!

RogersDA · August 15, 2008

Thanks for the suggestions on the renaming s/w. NameMangler and A Better Finder Renamer were both ones that I was looking at. I may give the free app a shot before dropping more $$. I've done that too much these weeks.

Andy · August 15, 2008

DavidTO wrote:

Actually, I'm sure it's just a matter of taste, but I think I'm in love with 1Password.

It's not perfect, this is grandcentral.com site. Ajaxy..

Photoshopexpress (Flashy) was also denied.

Still, seems pretty cool and I'll buy it.

DavidTO · August 16, 2008

Mike Lane wrote:

TO, the high-pressure sales guy.

Here's my problem, my wife occasionally logs into various things on her (EEEK!) windows machine. If I go making every password a 256 UTF-8 character string (or whatever), then she'll never be able to get into the various accounts.

They do have https://my.1password.com/ in private beta right now. If that's something that can allow Beth to get the passwords when she needs them, then I may have found a new password management solution.

But I won't be able to know if that meets my needs until they let me into the beta pool.

Mike,

Not sure if it's worth your trouble, but you can export an encrypted web page from 1P and keep it on a USB thumb drive for use on those PCs.

DavidTO · August 16, 2008

Andy wrote:

It's not perfect, this is grandcentral.com site. Ajaxy..

Photoshopexpress (Flashy) was also denied.

Still, seems pretty cool and I'll buy it.

For GrandCentral you need to use this link: http://www.grandcentral.com/account

No flashy.

Andy · August 16, 2008

DavidTO wrote:

For GrandCentral you need to use this link: http://www.grandcentral.com/account

No flashy.

Cool thx.

How about this one

RogersDA · August 16, 2008

Is it better to suspend the guest or quit the guest when exiting Fusion? I've been doing both, but am unsure if there really is a need to quit when all I need to do is suspend.

Just curious....

DavidTO · August 16, 2008

Andy wrote:

Cool thx.

How about this one

That's just stupid.

The way to get the GrandCentral one is to enter a bogus login, and it then takes you to a standard web form page. That doesn't work with The photoshop express page. Why Adobe would insist that you use a flash login page is beyond me. I suggest that you ask them to direct you to a non-flash login page, and tell them they're dum for not making it more readily available.

Andy · August 16, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

Is it better to suspend the guest or quit the guest when exiting Fusion? I've been doing both, but am unsure if there really is a need to quit when all I need to do is suspend.

Just curious....

I suspend, and have have a Win XP system running for months and months and months

RogersDA · August 16, 2008

Andy wrote:

I suspend, and have have a Win XP system running for months and months and months

Thanks, Andy.

I have to say, too, that this Mac is soooooooo much easier to configure (load software, peripherals, etc.) than a windows-based machine. While there are still a few small things I have not figured out how to do (yet), I am still amazed how simple this thing is.

Mike Lane · August 16, 2008

RogersDA wrote:

Thanks, Andy.

I have to say, too, that this Mac is soooooooo much easier to configure (load software, peripherals, etc.) than a windows-based machine. While there are still a few small things I have not figured out how to do (yet), I am still amazed how simple this thing is.

Try cmd ~, without it I would hate my mac

Not even stevie jay can expect me to use my mouse to switch between all my open windows of one piece of software.

Now if the photoshop devs would quit being ridiculous and get on board with apple's way of doing things (control tab??? seriously wtf?) I'd be completely happy.

CatOne · August 17, 2008

Mike Lane wrote:

Now if the photoshop devs would quit being ridiculous and get on board with apple's way of doing things (control tab??? seriously wtf?) I'd be completely happy.

They've proven to like legacy

Command-H doesn't hide the app (which is Mac standard), and is command-comma preferences? I really can't recall.

colourbox · August 17, 2008

Mike Lane wrote:

Now if the photoshop devs would quit being ridiculous and get on board with apple's way of doing things (control tab??? seriously wtf?) I'd be completely happy.

Photoshop product manager John Nack has recently blogged about this upcoming change.

When Apple introduced OS X, they decided to implement some new conventions for shortcuts...Cmd-~ (technically Cmd-`) cycles among open documents. Over time the OS has appropriated more and more shortcuts that have been used by Photoshop...This puts us in a tough position...As it happens, I expect we'll change Photoshop to use Cmd-~ to cycle among document windows. PS already supports the Windows-standard Ctrl-Tab for this function on both platforms, and by honoring both conventions we can offer cross-platform consistency. This move will undoubtedly frustrate people who rely on Cmd-~ for displaying the composite channel...

cabbey · August 19, 2008

CatOne wrote:

They've proven to like legacy

Command-H doesn't hide the app (which is Mac standard), and is command-comma preferences? I really can't recall.

Nope.

But really, if we're going to lambast them for broken crud... how about we start with the updater. :puke

Even Windows Update is better implemented.

CatOne · August 19, 2008

cabbey wrote:

Nope.

But really, if we're going to lambast them for broken crud... how about we start with the updater. :puke

Even Windows Update is better implemented.

:puke is right ;-)

Their updater and installer are both awful. Their installers are completely proprietary on both platforms, which makes them a huge pain in the ass to install in managed environments. It's awful.

And don't get me started on the fact that there are two versions of Adobe Help Viewer (1.0 and 1.1) installed because their document formats are incompatible. They truly have a number of craptastic things. Photoshop is powerful, but man do they have a lot of unnecessary complexity and legacy. I don't need to get started

ian408 · August 19, 2008

Someone stopped by and asked for the magic to do "focus-follows-mouse" in a terminal window. I'd found the answer for myself and passed along the following:

Open a terminal window
In the window, type:
defaults write com.apple.Terminal FocusFollowsMouse -string YES
Restart the terminal window

Once the app restarts, you can mouse over any open terminal window and have focus.

TexPhotog · August 20, 2008

Mac Laptop Dilema (Photo/Video Editing)
Ok... so here's my question

I am in the market for a new Apple laptop...

How should I spend the $$$ that I don't have

MacBook (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

MacBook Air (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

MacBook Pro (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

I plan to keep using my Windows XP Pro for regular use, so the Apple laptop will only be used to edit photos and video (Photoshop/Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid and such...)

Any thoughts, ideas, comments and/or advice is greatly appreciated...

Thanks.

Davidoff · August 20, 2008

TexPhotog wrote:

Ok... so here's my question

I am in the market for a new Apple laptop...

How should I spend the $$$ that I don't have

MacBook (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

MacBook Air (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

MacBook Pro (Pros/Cons, why/why not)

I plan to keep using my Windows XP Pro for regular use, so the Apple laptop will only be used to edit photos and video (Photoshop/Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid and such...)

Any thoughts, ideas, comments and/or advice is greatly appreciated...

Thanks.

For that use, MBP, no doubt. The other 2 are a good bit worst in that department, because they don't have a proper graphics card, 13" screens and less processor power if I'm not mistaken.

DavidTO · August 20, 2008

Why are you going to continue to use XP?

FCP and Avid?

pathfinder · August 20, 2008

The MacBook Air is too small,too slow, and too weak for a real Photoshop workhorse ( my opinion entirely - but I looked at it seriously when it came out)

The decision between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro is much more nuanced, and finally comes down to whether you can afford the difference when they are fully loaded up.

A MacBook is nice, but are you really going to be happy editing on that 13 inch screen? I know I am not, even with a 15 in screen, I vastly prefer my desktop Cinema Display.

MBP $1999

15 in Nvidea 8600M GT with 256 MB RAM, 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 200 GB HD, double layer drive DVD, 2 Gb RAM

MB black cover $1499

13 in screen without its own video card 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 250GB HD, double layer drive

$500 buys you a bigger LCD with its own video card and no system memory used for video

Needless to say, I bought a MacBook Pro w 4 Gb RAM

Andy's Un-Official Unsolicited Mac Advice Thread

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