Custom Christmas Labels in Snow Leopard

Mac Address Book for Snow Leopard doesn't combine the spouse name and the addressee's name as earlier versions do. Here's a workaround:
1. Add "Nickname" to all current cards and to the template.
2. Create a group for all cards that you want something other than the addressee's name (e.g., "The Smith Family" instead of "John Smith). In the "Nickname" field for all those in this group, put in what you want it to say (e.g., "The Smith Family").
3. Install "Address Book Exporter" (http://gwenhiver.net/address-book-exporter.html)
4. Launch "Address Book Exporter" and export the custom group
5. Use Mail Merge in Word to create the custom label, using "Nickname" instead of First and Last Name.

Copying Mac paths with right mouse click in Finder

This site provides a download and simple instructions for adding "Copy file path" to context sensitive menus in Finder.

http://rmp135.posterous.com/copy-finder-path-snow-leopard

Copy File Paths in OS X

I often need to tell colleagues where a file is located. This freeware
adds an item to the services menu that allows one to copy
the path from finder.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/copypath_sekine.html

How to Get Rid of Empty Folders in iTunes folder

Type the following into Terminal:
find /Volumes/[DriveName]/iTunes -type d -empty

Example
find /Volumes/"Passport 500"/iTunes -type d -empty

Copying and pasting Mac OS X path names

Working in a collaborative environment, one often has to let a colleague know where a file can be found. I knew how to do it in Windows, but it was tougher on the Mac. I found a free script that adds an item to the "more" section of context sensitive (right mouse click) menus that does exactly this.
http://mac.softpedia.com/progDownload/FilePathToClipCMPlugin-Download-20299.html

Shortcut to Creating Aliases

To create an alias, click on the icon,
hold down command-option and drag the icon to create an alias

Reformat FAT32 Drive to HFS+ When Disk Utility Gives an Error

I bought a new Seagate 1.5 TB drive (Windows version, which is cheaper than the Mac version, and I don't need firewire). Usually, reformatting a FAT32 Windows drive to Mac's HFS+ format is a snap in Disk Utility. However, it gave me an error and wouldn't format it.

After looking around, I found the solution at
http://www.wilko.com/weblog/index.php?url=archives/112-Reformatting-a-FAT32-drive-to-HFS+-Never-trust-a-GUI.html#feedback

Just open Terminal and type
diskutil eraseDisk "Journaled HFS+" "[DRIVE NAME HERE]" disk1

In about a minute, the drive is HFS+ formatted.

Saving Autorecovery Files - Deeper Safety net

I have MS Word set to save autorecovery files every minute. This works fine if there's an actual crash. But Word deletes these autorecovery files if you close the Word file normally. But what if you do something stupid - like close a file by checking "don't save changes" when you actually did want to save?

Solution: I have Synchronize Pro X set to check every time the backups folder notes a change (i.e., everytime an autorecovery file is created) and to save that to a different folder. That way, you're essentially saving a copy of the file every minute for safekeeping.

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/

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.