Mounting Windows network drives at login (OS X tip)

http://macbitz.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/mounting-network-drives-at-login-os-x-tip/

Noname attachment sent by Apple Mail to Gmail

Someone sent me a .doc file that I couldn't open because of the

way Apple Mail encodes files. 

Here's a site that will decode the file for you.

http://www.rjohnson.id.au/attachment_decoder/

To avoid the problem in the future, here are the instructions:

"Sending via Apple Mail

Before sending attachments via Apple Mail, make sure that under the

menu Edit> Attachments, the option Always Send Windows-Friendly

Attachments is checked. Selecting this option helps to avoid problems

even when the recipient of the email is using a Mac."

Open Mac programs at startup but as hidden
http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/05/01/how-to-automatically-launch-programs-when-os-x-starts/

How to remap keys on Windows keyboard for use with Mac

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/11/mac-101-using-your-windows-keyboard/

Syncing iSync/iCal with Razr

Isync couldn't sync with the Razr V3m calendar.

This site shows you how to do it (and provides the key download file)
http://blog.aragirn.net/2007/03/21/razr-v3m-and-isync/

Syncing Google Calendar and iCal (Can then Sync to iPod)

http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=99358#

Enable Single Window Mode for Safari

From http://www.mactips.org/ Posted: 10 Oct 2008 05:53 AM CDT

"You may have noticed that some links in Safari absolutely refuse to open in the same window. After a while this can leave you with several windows open at once - which can make your desktop a real mess.

You can, however, change this so that links that would normally open in a new window will now open in a new tab instead.

To do you need to launch the Terminal and type in the following:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

Hit return the quit and restart Safari. Now all of your links that would normally open in a new window will open in a new tab. If you want to change back to the previous settings all you have to do is open Terminal and type in:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool false

The close and restart Safari again."

Get rid of "._" files from Mac

The Mac seems to leave a lot of "._" files on windows disks (which was meeting with complaints from our network people). Terminal has a built in command to get rid of these:

dot_clean -m [disk name]

You can find the names of your disks by typing
mdutil -sa

For more info:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/dot_clean.1.html

Update:
Well, this seems to work on local drives but not network drives. I found a utility that (among other things) has a check box that deletes the files off the network and prevents them in the future: http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php

Update2:
Type this command in terminal so that OS X never saves ._DS files on network drives again

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

Here's the apple page about this
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1629

Free DVD Ripper - Mac : Handbrake

I needed a free DVD Ripper for the Mac and found a nice one: http://handbrake.fr/
It's easy to use and the quality looks perfect.

Ejecting a disc from iMac

Sometimes the iMac will accept a disc but then not load it; there's
button for manual ejection.

So, open terminal (in utilities) and type "drutil tray eject"

Hibernate option disappears in Vista - Get it back

Click the start button and type "powercfg.exe /hibernate on" in the command/search box and hit control-shift-enter.
Voila, it's back.

Mac Office 2008 Bug - Error Trying to Customize Keyboard

If you try to assign a shortcut through Tools-Customize Keyboard,
Word gives a message "Word cannot change the function of the specified key."

Since I was trying to map the em-dash and en-dash, I was able to map
them by going to Insert-Symbol-Keyboard Shortcut.

Indexing Network Drives With OS X 10.5 Spotlight

Google desktop can't index network drives on the Mac, and Spotlight doesn't either (by default).
Here is how to turn indexing on with spotlight.

1. Open Terminal (in utilities)
2. To give you the status of your drives type
mdutil -sa
3. Type the following to turn indexing on (if your drive has spaces in the name, you need to put the path in quotes)
mdutil -i on [path name]

Great quote - Professional jobs

Making partner in a law firm is like winning a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie.
-Old saying quoted in Curtis Sittenfeld's excellent "American Wife"

One could say the same about academics, and I imagine many/most professional jobs.

Making Home and End Keys work on the Mac as they do in Windows

I've made the switch to a map desktop. This handy tip allows you to have
the keyboard use the home and end keys as they work in Windows.

http://lifehacker.com/software/keyboard/mac-switchers-tip--remap-the-home-and-end-keys-225873.php