CreativeBits: OS X: Typing special characters
I wonder about the Mac developers who get stuck doing these utilities. Here's another clever one that's utterly buried in a completely obscure location and probably known to only a dozen people -- yet if you search it out it's a great way to see the effect of using modifier keys and to examine various fonts. The one downside is that it uses yet more space on the menubar, but it's good enough to warrant taking something else (the MacClassic icon?) from the menubar (command-click then drag off menubar* -- but restoring icons to a menubar is application dependent).
One of the most interesting tips I've seen in a while.
* This is one of the more obscure user interface behaviors in OS X. A Ctrl-Click should show a "remove" item on the context menu.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
The Poor Man's Mathematica
Graphing Calculator Users Gallery
There's a long story here. My perspective is that when Apple moved from its 68K Motorola chip to their "hot" RISC PowerPC architecture, they introduced a new mini-app -- the graphing calculator. They made a fuss about it. At the time it reminded me of Mathematica, except even then Mathematica cost hundreds of dollars and this far simpler app was a freebie. It persisted through all of Classic, but vanished after OS X came out.
Now the story of how it came to be, and not be, has come out. And, amazingly, it's back. There's a free version for OS X (works fine in my limited testing) and a $60-$100 commercial version with more features. There's even a book.
I used Mathematica quite a bit 10 years ago, and this is no Mathematica, but I must say it's a very cool tool. I don't do enough math now to judge how useful it would be to an engineer, but it does look like it'd do the job for high school math -- and it's not at all expensive.
There's a long story here. My perspective is that when Apple moved from its 68K Motorola chip to their "hot" RISC PowerPC architecture, they introduced a new mini-app -- the graphing calculator. They made a fuss about it. At the time it reminded me of Mathematica, except even then Mathematica cost hundreds of dollars and this far simpler app was a freebie. It persisted through all of Classic, but vanished after OS X came out.
Now the story of how it came to be, and not be, has come out. And, amazingly, it's back. There's a free version for OS X (works fine in my limited testing) and a $60-$100 commercial version with more features. There's even a book.
I used Mathematica quite a bit 10 years ago, and this is no Mathematica, but I must say it's a very cool tool. I don't do enough math now to judge how useful it would be to an engineer, but it does look like it'd do the job for high school math -- and it's not at all expensive.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Mac OS X 10.3.7: problems with DNS and preferences?
Macintouch - Mac OS X 10.3.7
This feels credible. A problem with a .plist file is a typical OS X glitch. Deleting the pref file for network preferences might work as well.
Updated to 10.3.7 on my 15' alBook and suffered same slow Internet performance that is widely reported on the web. It was especially terrible with my AirPort at home.
The suggestion to make sure you load 'valid' DNS numbers was the only tip I needed. I loaded a different set of DNS numbers and ZOOM it took off. Then I put back the original DNS numbers and ZOOM it keeps on rocking... my previous speed had returned. It was not a new 'valid' number it needed, but simply a reload of the DNS addresses to correct some type of corruption. Even thought they are correct, try erasing, then reloading your DNS addresses and see if it works for you.
Something about 10.3.7 messes up the DNS server lookup process. But it is easily fixed in the Network Preferences panel.
This feels credible. A problem with a .plist file is a typical OS X glitch. Deleting the pref file for network preferences might work as well.
Maintenance tips for OS X: cache deletion on updates
Macintouch - Mac OS X 10.3.7
It's common to see recommendations to redo permissions after OS X updates. I've found deleting caches to be much more important, and occasionally deleting preference files. Neither is part of routine maintenance. OS X system updates ought to routinely delete all caches -- there's no reason not to start afresh.
I prefer ONYX to Cocktail. I think Cocktail's installation is too invasive, and it behaves oddly when one tries to install as a regular user (needs to be installed and run as a logged-in admin, not as a sudo'd admin, but it doesn't say that...).
Jim Wade
I have a suggestion for the readers who are seeing slow start ups after installing 10.3.7.
I recently got around to installing the 10.3.6 Combo update on my 15' TiPB. MUCH slower starting up, mostly after logging in. I remembered seeing a tip somewhere to clear the System and User caches. So I used my copy of Cocktail (but there are other utilities out there as well) to clear/delete the system and user caches. The user cache took several minutes to clear, BTW. Afterwards, the machine was even faster than before installing 10.3.6! So try it with the 10.3.7 update.
It's common to see recommendations to redo permissions after OS X updates. I've found deleting caches to be much more important, and occasionally deleting preference files. Neither is part of routine maintenance. OS X system updates ought to routinely delete all caches -- there's no reason not to start afresh.
I prefer ONYX to Cocktail. I think Cocktail's installation is too invasive, and it behaves oddly when one tries to install as a regular user (needs to be installed and run as a logged-in admin, not as a sudo'd admin, but it doesn't say that...).
Apple tips on selective restore of bundled software
Using Restore discs with computers that ship with Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later
This article is for 10.3.4 or later machines. Several ways to restore or install bundled software. Cite via macintouch.
This article is for 10.3.4 or later machines. Several ways to restore or install bundled software. Cite via macintouch.
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