Mac

Remembering Just One Password is Easier and Safer

by

In an earlier article, “Picking Passwords: Pitfalls, Practicalities and Protection”, I examined the requirements and problems of modern passwords and why they are hard for humans to remember but easy for computers to crack. I also touched on how we can manage this conundrum.

In this article, I’ll have my cake and eat it; I’ll use complex, secure and unique passwords for everything. All of those passwords will confirm the specific requirements and rulesets of each service – even if that means that the criteria differs between services. And we will remember just one secure password to do this.

Read more at Envato…

How to Get a 20% or Higher Discount on All Mac App Store Purchases

by

If I were to suggest that you could save 20%, or more, on all of your purchases in the Mac App Store, you might treat that statement with some caution, and you would be right to do so.

But what if I were to tell you that this saving is entirely legitimate? This is not a scam, it is not a trick, it’s just a matter of playing your cards right. Your iTunes gifts cards, that is. Are you interested in saving money? Then read on!

Read more at Envato…

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 2 – Jacob, Johnny and Richard Look Back and Look Forward

by

 

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 2 – Jacob, Johnny and Richard Look Back and Look Forward

This podcast was a collaboration with Dr Richard Harkness and Jacob Penderworth. It was the second podcast that I recorded and edited for publication by Alex Arena.

Back to the Mac, or BTTM, ran for a total of 26 episodes, most of which have been lost to internet history. It was good fun whilst it lasted and we had an average five-star review from seven listeners. I’m not sure how many more we reached.

Above is the second episode that I found on a server.

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 1 – Richard and Johnny Have a Chat

by

 

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 1 – Richard and Johnny Have a Chat

This podcast was a collaboration with Dr Richard Harkness and was the first podcast that I recorded and edited for publication by Alex Arena.

Back to the Mac, or BTTM, ran for a total of 26 episodes, most of which have been lost to internet history. It was good fun whilst it lasted and we had an average five-star review from seven listeners. I’m not sure how many more we reached.

Above is the first episode that I found on a server.

 

Picking Passwords: Pitfalls, Practicalities and Protection

by

Like many people, you probably have a password for logging on to your computer at work, another one for logging into your work email, and then there’s your personal email. Your Mac at home. The AppleID for your iPhone. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. And more?

Oh, and you have to use a capital letter, some lowercase, at least one digit, a punctuation mark or other special characters and it has to be more than 12 characters long. Perhaps you can’t use more than 16 characters? Or perhaps that particular service doesn’t, afterall, allow you to use special characters – even more confusing!

Read more at Envato…

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 0 – The Pilot

by

Back to the Mac Podcast, Episode 0 – The Pilot

This podcast was a collaboration with Alex Arena and Jacob Penderworth and was my introduction to producing a podcast.

Back to the Mac, or BTTM, ran for a total of 26 episodes, most of which have been lost to internet history. It was good fun whilst it lasted and we had an average five-star review from seven listeners. I’m not sure how many more we reached.

Above is the pilot episode that I found on a server.

 

The Future for Apple Human Interface Design

by

This article first appeared on Mac.Appstorm, a popular Envato website reviewing Mac apps. The site was subsequently sold to a new owner and, a number of years later, the article was lost. I have republished it here for reference.

In recent iterations of iOS — Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad — and in recent versions of OS X on the desktop, you will undoubtedly have noticed a move towards visual elements that mimic real-life objects. The ruled, yellow notepaper for the Notes app, the torn-paper effect at the top of the stitched, leather-bound Calendar app, and more are examples of this.

These software design elements mimicking real world objects have introduced a new word into our vocabularies: skeuomorphism. Such effects have, however, divided opinion, and it is just possible that we will see Apple shift away from these elements in future.

Read more

How to Set Up Shared Reminder Lists in Mountain Lion

by

One of the new features to included in Mountain Lion and iOS 6 is the iCloud-enabled reminders app. Reminders is a basic reminder list management application that incorporates the ability to wirelessly synchronize reminders across your iOS and desktop devices using Apple’s iCloud.

Reminders can also share reminder lists with other people. Let’s see how.

Read more at Envato…

How to Reveal the Library Folder in Lion or Mountain Lion

by

Did you know that you will find Library folders in three locations on your Mac? There’s a Library folder at the root-level of your hard drive, there’s a second Library folder inside the root-level System folder and another Library folder in each User’s Home folder. In the normal day-to-day course of events, you don’t need to worry about any of them, and that’s fine because they’re all hidden away from you by default.

There are, however, occasions when you may need to access the User Library folder (also known as ~/Library) and this article will show you how.

Read more at Envato…

The OS X Recovery Partition: What It Is, Why It’s There and How to Remove It

by

When you upgrade your Intel Mac from Snow Leopard to Lion, Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion, or even Snow Leopard to Lion and then again to Mountain Lion, the installation process creates a special “Recovery Partition”.

There are, however, certain circumstances where you will want to remove this recovery partition. This article looks at what the Recovery Partition is, what it does, and why you might want to remove it. I’ll also walk you through the removal process.

Read more at Envato…