Fix the “Copy Address” annoyance in Mail on 10.6

2009 October 29
by gomezm

Mail copy fix

One of the changes I’ve noticed in Snow Leopard is the way in which Mail handles it’s “Copy Address” command. In Leopard, copying the address from the contextual menu simply copied the email address. In Snow Leopard, it adds the annoying chevrons so what you get is this: “<name@email.com>”

To remedy this, quit Mail and fire up Terminal. Type in the following code and reopen Mail. Done!

defaults write com.apple.mail
AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -bool NO

Using Microsoft Exchange

2009 October 27
by gomezm

msexchangeI work part time at my university and every student gets a free email account that stays with us forever. This email has recently been migrated to the campus’ Microsoft Exchange service because the department I work for believes in adhering to FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act). What that meant for me was that I had delete the IMAP emails I had set up in Mail and my iPhone and create new ones. I’m happy to write that setting up these new Exchange accounts was a breeze! On my iPhone, I chose the Microsoft Exchange option when asked which type of email I wanted, typed in my email address and password and the iPhone did everything else! It even added my Exchange calendars and contacts for me!

In Mail, same story: I typed in my email address and password, it asked to confirm the Exchange server name and I was up and running in seconds. Now, my calendars and contacts didn’t sync right away because the university has certain restrictions that limit sending certain kinds of information outside it’s local network so I’ll have to talk to the IT department. But overall, Apple’s claims that Exchange’s setup “makes sense” and it’s overal slogan of things that “just work” are totally validated by my experience (if that counts for anything!).

MultiIconMover – Move Several Icons at Once

2009 October 25
by gomezm

multiiconmoverHave you ever had to move more than one app on your springboard and wished there was a better than way to do it? Sure you can use iTunes now but there are issues with jailbroken iPhones where this feature isn’t possible. Fortunately for us, this is where MultiIconMover comes in. Available for free in Cydia, this “app” allows you to move apps over to other pages in a way that Apple itself would be proud to call its own.

Activate the wiggly icons, then tap the icons you want to move and a red checkmark appears on the app. Once you’ve selected what you want, go to the page you want them dropped to and press the Home button. They pop into place and you’re good to go! It’s such a great addition to my iPhone; I can’t believe I only just discovered this!

Snow Leopard

2009 September 8
by gomezm

Yesterday, I finally upgraded to Snow Leopard and I’m happy to announce that there have been no problems! The only things that needed some work were when certain applications’ licenses broke. For example, LittleSnitch reported to be Demo Mode; so did Candybar after a the Snow Leopard upgrade to version 3.2. But these weren’t real problems at all. Photoshop CS4 works without a hitch and so does Microsoft Office (which I was nervous about after reading some reviews on broken apps). Overall, I’m happy about the upgrade and look forward to finding all the little easter eggs along the way.

Here’s a screenshot of my new desktop with Snow Leoppard on my new unibody Pro. I love the vignette look of Exposé!

Screen shot 2009-09-08 at 1.47.53 PM

Return of the Author

2009 August 31
by gomezm

MacBook Pro

Phew. After 4 months of inactivity, I’m finally back. Today, I finished my summer contract with my university working on their website and other marketing projects. There’s so much that has changed in that four months time, both in the Apple world and in my own – enough to (maybe) change this blog. First, after a year of contemplation, I finally went ahead and purchased myself an iPhone 3G S! That’s right, the “iPod” of iPodMac might not be so relevant anymore. However, there are a lot of things that I could still write about that would still be useful for both camps. (I have to think about new banners and taglines now…).

And second, I upgraded my 13″ White MacBook to a brand new 15″ MacBook Pro – and I am LOVING IT! Now, I only got it on Sunday so I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on it but for the bits of time that I did, it truly is a revelation to work with. In the box came Snow Leopard but I have yet to install it – those will probably make some nice posts.

As of now, I am still in the process of collecting ideas for numerous blog posts so it still might a bit before actual posts make their way out here so be patient. :)

It’s alive!

2009 April 22
by gomezm

I’m here. I’m back. For the time being at least. School is still ongoing – my last exam is May 1 and then commences my full time summer job where I get to plan a University event (and create their website!). So I’m still very busy and it’s hard for me to get into a comfortable enough space that will allow me to write something of use. After May 1st, however, things will change. I’ve just had two exams on Tuesday so the free air is so very close! Until then.

P.S. I was totally excited when I got my Macheist bundle. Totally excited. Yay for Hit List and World of Goo!

Minium

2009 March 1
by gomezm

This is it everyone! Minium was once a teaser on deviantART and was scheduled never to be released by the original artist Sekkyumu, which was a sad day indeed.  But recently, after searching through some popular icons at the DA, I found that the most popular “icon” was a new set called Minium, this one created by German artist, RADE8. I immediately didn’t recognize it when I downloaded it but after applying it, I knew it was the same. Minium is a huge icon replacement set featuring over 150 icons, mostly metallic with some embossed and colourful icons to boot. Although they’re amazingly done, the sad part is that they are not at a 512 resolution (128 max), there are no bonus folder icons (which I always appreciate!), nor is there a Candybar file. However, what I do like about the set is the variety of the the drive icons, toolbar icons, and random favourites like a floppy disk, memory stick, superdisk, and the alternate text icon (read closely that one!).

Click the preview to visit deviantART and download!

Wisper – My first wallpaper

2009 February 26
by gomezm

Using really simple techniques, I’ve created my first wallpaper in Photoshop! It’s super simple and I like to think it looks good – it matches the general look of my iPod as well. The desgin was essentially a spash of colour on a rather colourless yet elegant background.

If you choose to use it, I’d love to see it on your desktop; maybe you can post a link! Anyway, it’s a 1280 x 800 resolution image, so sorry for anyone who doesn’t use this format. It’s my first wallpaper so it isn’t fully featured yet!

Let me know what you think!

Click to enlarge and download

Click to enlarge and download

Safari 4 Public Beta

2009 February 25
by gomezm

There’s a new Browser in town, Safari 4 Beta. I read over the features and was excited by what I saw. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll get when you download it.

  • Top Sites – Look at your top sites in a snazzy grid view and click on any one to visit that site.
  • Cover Flow — Browse through your history and bookmarks like you would in iTunes or Finder
  • Full History Search — Type in your keywords and get results in Cover Flow style
  • Nitro Engine — Javascript is said to start 30x faster than IE7 and 3x faster than Firefox.
  • Tabs On Top — Tabs now don’t take up your favourite’s space because they’re now right at the top of the window
  • Windows Native Look and Feel — Windows users will find that their copy of Safari 4 beta looks and feels like any other Windows app, including Windows fonts; however with the same engine as the Mac version.
  • Cosmetic changes — You’ll notice everything looking a little brighter and lighter. Bright is good.

I like the top sites idea and it’s executed well except I wish I could manually choose the sites by typing and saving a URL. Also, I’m still not convinced with the look of the new Tabs position on Safari’s window. They’re so far away and I definitely need to get used to that. One last thing I miss is the progress bar that fills while the webpage loads. It’s been replaced with a spinning animation with no feedback as to how much the page has loaded. It’s not really helpful because you can’t tell if a page hangs the moment it happens, you have to wait until your patience runs out while loading to hit CMD+R.

Anyway, I’ll give it a couple of days and of course, it’s still beta so hopefully some things change. Now, go get it!

New Job, New Stuff!

2009 February 21
by gomezm

Long time it’s been, eh? That’s because my courses at university and other responsibilities have been taken up a lot of my time. I recently got a new job at my university that put me in charge of developing the website for an upcoming event. I’m really excited because it’s the first time I get to design logos, icons, and websites and get paid for it! 

The tools I’ve been assigned to use are Dreamweaver CS4 and Flash CS4. These of course will be added to my Photoshop CS4 and GIMP. I’ve never used these apps for professional purposes before; I’ve always just tinkered with PS and GIMP for my own personal projects and enjoyment. I’ve only used Flash and Dreamweaver in High School a number of years back so I definitely need to dust off and polish my aging abilities with those apps. I’ll be asked now to push the limits of my imagination, creativity, and technical smarts with this job and I know I’ll do myself proud!

If I’m happy enough with my work and feel comfortable sharing, I’ll definitely put some imagery here and links to show off my work!