mac-os-x

Mac OS X launchd FAQ: Can you share some Mac launchd examples (also written as launchd plist examples, or launchctl examples)?

In an earlier tutorial (Mac OS X startup jobs with crontab, launchctl, and launchd) I demonstrated how to use the Mac OS X launchd facility instead of cron to run what would normally be a cron (crontab) job. As I started working with launchd and launchctl, I realized it would probably be helpful to see several different launchd examples, specifically launchd plist file examples.

Mac screen capture app FAQ: I can never remember the Mac screen capture keystrokes; can you recommend a good Mac screen capture application?

My favorite Mac screen capture software application

I don't write about commercial applications very often, but after using SnapNDrag so much over the last year, I have to say, it's far and away my favorite Mac screen capture software application (Mac app).

SnapNDrag is one of those simple "It does one thing, and does it well" Mac software applications. It lets you easily create a screenshot of a Mac application window, or the complete Mac screen, or a timed picture of the current Mac screen (which is very useful when you want to take a picture of Google search trends for the term "facebook delete account", for example).

Mac CAF/AIF/MP3 sound file FAQ: How do I convert a CAF file to AIF format, MP3 format, or any other sound file format on Mac OS X, for free?

Convert CAF to AIF, MP3, WAV, for free - solution

While writing my Mac "Hide Your Desktop" application, I can't work with certain sound file formats yet, so I've been digging around trying to figure out how to convert Apple's "CAF" file format into a format I can deal with, and I really need files to be in an AIF, MP3, WAV, or AU format.

Last night I found a cool Mac OS X command-line utility named "afconvert" that lets you convert sound files from one format to another, for free. So I dug into it, and eventually created a shell script that lets me convert all my CAF sound files into AIF sound files. A slightly modified version of the same script will allow you to convert CAF or AIF sound files to MP3, WAV, and other sound file formats.

MacBook battery life FAQ: Do you have any tips on how I can improve my MacBook battery life?

Yes I do, and wow -- did I learn something while digging into this -- I had no idea I was supposed to calibrate my MacBook Pro battery every month. I just found this out while trying to help a friend who was having some MacBook battery problems (her new MacBook is not holding a battery charge very long).

In a note with the latest Mac OS X 10.5 software update, I read this blurb about Apple's Mac Java support:

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_22, and updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_17 for 64-bit capable Intel-based Macs.

J2SE 1.4.2 is no longer being updated to fix bugs or security issues and is therefore disabled by default in this update.

Put another way, Java 1.4.x on Mac OS X is dead, long live Java 1.4. Not huge news, but noteworthy.