The Efficient Mac Website - OS X Productivity

Expanded save dialogue as default

defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

Disable:

defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool FALSE

Show hidden files in finder

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

Disable:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

Source: Mac OS X Tips

Under Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts ensure you have “All controls” selected at the bottom and then scroll under “Keyboard Navigation” and choose something for “Move focus to the menu bar” which is set by default to Ctrl-F2.

I have it set to Ctrl-Option-M. Once triggered start type the name of the menu item you want. Hit enter and repeat.

Let’s correct that spelling faster by cutting down the amount of time using the mouse.
* Ctrl click on the word as usual
* Now instead of selecting the correct spelling with the mouse start typing the correct spelling as seen on the popup list
* If you typed fast enough the item you typed will be selected
NOTE: You only need to type enough letters to distinguish the result you want selected, or if the item you want to select is at the top of the list, you only need to type the first letter

A better solution without having to rely on the mouse is being discussed on the parent page.

The following is a list of software which I use and would recommend. Until links are added you can find all these applications at VersionTracker.

Included with OS X

• iCal, Organize Yourself
• iPhoto, Organize your Photos & Videos
• iTunes, Your Music & Movie Gallery

More Goodies From Apple

• Keynote, Dazzle your Audience
• Pages, Documents Never Looked so Good

3rd Party Picks

• LaunchBar, Everything at your Finger Tips
• MondoMouse, Resize & Move Windows Quickly
• Adium, Master of Instant Messaging
• Skype, Chat & Speak Securely
• WebnoteHappy, Manage your Bookmarks
• Perian & Flip4Mac, Play Any Video in Quicktime
• PDF Shrink, Put your PDF on a Diet

Problem

1. Switching back and forth to iTunes to check or control song status is cumbersome
2. Sometimes you want to listen to the music that you like, but rating songs is teadious

Solution

1. To control iTunes I use a series of AppleScripts which I summon from LaunchBar. They have been derived from Doug’s excellent collection of AppleScripts. They are attached to this post and include:

   • iTunes Show current track - a popup dialogue with the song, artist & rating to prevent having to switch into iTunes to see what is playing
   • iTunes Play/Pause
   • iTunes Next Song
   • iTunes Previous Song

2. I find that a 5 point scale is overkill, instead I use a 3 point scale and use the additional 3 ratings to facilitate my music management. I start by setting all songs to a default of 2 stars, these become my “unrated” songs. 3 stars is “OK”, 4 stars is “great” and 5 stars is “all time favourites”. 1 star is used only if there is some problem with the song file and is used as a flag. 0 stars refers to a song I do not want to keep. This has the added advantage of counteracting the iPod rating which is very sensitive to the touch. You can now easily scroll up for a good song and down for a bad one. The following scripts are also included in the aforementioned package:

   • iTunes Rate 5 - rate the song 5, and make sure it is included in shuffle
   • iTunes Rate 4 - rate the song 4, and make sure it is included in shuffle
   • iTunes Rate 3 - rate the song 3, and make sure it is included in shuffle
   • iTunes Rate 2 - rate the song 2, and make sure it is included in shuffle
   • iTunes Rate 1 - rate the song 1, prevent it from playing in shuffle, and skip to next track
   • iTunes Rate 0 - rate the song 0, prevent it from playing in shuffle, and skip to next track

Usage

1. Download iTunes Scripts - EfficientMac.com.zip below
2. Put them in a folder which is indexed by LaunchBar.

Note: I have made all these scripts available for those who use other