General – RCDefaultApp
RCDefaultApp is a Mac OS X 10.2 or higher preference pane that allows a user to set the default application used for various URL schemes, file extensions, file types, MIME types, and Uniform Type Identifiers (or UTIs; MacOS 10.4 only). MacOS X uses the extension and file type settings to choose the application when opening a file in Finder, while Safari and other applications use the URL and MIME type settings at other times for content not related to a file (such as an unknown URL protocol, or a media stream).
The practical application for this app, as I see it is: use it to assign every possible video format to VLC! (there will be a Mac Essentials post about VLC coming soon). Of course you can use it to assign any other filetype to any other app as well.
Download Manager – JDownloader
I actually just found JDownloader the other day, but I already think it’s good enough make a post about. What makes JDownloader good is that it’s open source (it’s free) and platform independent. What makes it great is that it’s capable of downloading files from all sorts of popular uploader sites such as rapidshare and megaupload with or without a premium account. Updates work well, I haven’t had any errors, it’s downloading everything just fine. Definitely worth checking out.
So I was out tonight with one of my friends, we were sitting by this lake sort of by her house. We weren’t there for any particular reason… we just wanted a place to sit and talk. Well, we had been there for a little bit and we were about to leave when some headlights showed up behind us. At first I just thought it was a car passing by on the nearby street, but then I noticed the headlights were directly behind my car, and partially obscured by a police style push bumper. The cop got out and I rolled down my window.
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The average Mac user (I’m guessing) has no idea what a dotfile is. In Unix-like operating systems, hidden files’ and directories’ names begin with a period (e.g. /Users/username/.Trash). These are aptly called dotfiles.
So assuming that most of the people who get a hold of your computer arn’t going to know what a dotfile is, using them is a great way to hide things. Here’s how to do it.
- Open the Terminal
- Navigate to a folder you want to store files in (Use cd and ls)
- Type mkdir .foldername to create a new hidden folder
- Open Finder and hit Command + Shift + G
- Type the full path to the folder you want to open
There you go, you can save all your secret files in this folder and your significant other or kid won’t be able to find it! (maybe)
I’ve been struggling a bit getting adjusted to all this new shiny Macness, but here I am a month later and I think I’m getting close to having enough to be productive. Introducing Mac Essentials – What you should have on your mac.
Web Browser – Firefox
What seperates Firefox from the rest? And why should you use it rather than just use Safari? Firefox has a lot going for it, speed, ease of use, but to me it’s all about the Add-ons. Here are some of my favorites:
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