How to silence the OSX Startup Chime

Many of you with Macbooks will most likely be aware of the annoyance of the OSX startup tone chiming away when you boot up your computer in public places. Yes it is annoying, and no, there is no built-in way to shut it up.

However, you will be relieved to know that there is a System Preferences add-on that will allow allow such modifications. Its written by a group known as Arcadia, and is simply called StartupSound.prefPane, and can be downloaded from here!

Once installed, just visit your System Preferences and click on the Start Up Sound icon at the bottom. This will bring up a window like the following:

Adjust to your preference, and you’re done!

All about Applescript

I have recently been doing some playing around with Applescript, and I have found it to be really simple to use, yet powerful. For this reason, I thought I would share with you some of what I have learned.

What is AppleScript?

AppleScript is a scripting language developed by Apple that they have built into the mac operating system since system 7 (otherwise known as OS 7).

It is similar to pseudo code in that it uses human readable terms and commands, and it uses these to invoke operating system events and actions.

A basic script will generally consist of 2 parts, a “tell” construct, that will signify which application is being referenced, and then a command, or list of commands that we will send that application. For example:

tell application "iTunes"
   stop
end tell

or similarly

tell application "Safari" to quit

What can AppleScripts be used for?

Applescripts are most commonly used to kick off an application or script, or tell one to perform a certain task. For example, they could be used to kick off a shell script, tell iTunes to skip the current song, or tell the operating system to display the screen saver. The possibilities are limited only by the application in question.

How do I create AppleScripts?

OS X ships with a built in editor for Applescripts, funnily enough it is called AppleScript Editor and is located in /Applications/Utilities. This editor gives you the ability to create Applescripts, as well as record, compile and run them for testing / debugging purposes.

How do i know what applications accept what commands?

Dictionaries. The AppleScript Editor contains a handy little function that allows you to view the dictionaries for all compatible applications installed on your computer. To access this, open the editor, and press File -> Open Dictionary…

These dictionaries show you all the available commands for each application, as well as provide usage information for each.

How can i execute my AppleScript outside of the editor?

Of course AppleScripts would be a wh0le lot more useful if  you have some way of executing it on demand or by an operating system event or trigger. Some commonly used methods include the following:

- Shortcut Keys

Now, for some reason the Apple’s implementation of keyboard shortcuts relating to Applescripts is very dodgy. Using Automator is the best method that I have found, this was introduced in 10.4 (Tiger).

Firstly, open Automator. It is located in /Applications. You will need to create a new ‘Service’.

Next, you will need to choose an action for this service to perform. We will be using ‘Run Applescript’ so enter this into the filter input field to simplify selection.

You will be given a blank Applescript template that you can use to create your script. Note, you can test your script using the run button in the above right corner.

Next save the service. Now that we have created a service using our Applescript, we can create a keyboard shortcut. From System Preferences select ‘Keyboard’ (‘Keyboard and Mouse’ for pre Snow Leopard versions) .

On the left menu, you will see ‘Services’. Select this and scroll down to find your recently created script. Here you will want to double click on the white space in the right column. These columns are not clearly defined, but you should be able to see other keyboard shortcuts in the same vertical alignment.

You will then be given a field to enter your shortcut. Do this, and you’re done! Close the window and give it a try!

- User Login

You can also set an Applescript of your choosing to execute upon user login. To do this, simply browse to ‘System Preferences’ and select ‘Accounts’. Click the ‘Login Items’ tab, and add your script using the ‘+’ button on the screen. Easy.

Useful Applescripts

If you have any useful Applescripts you have written or stumbled across, let me know and I’ll add them here for all to see.

later.

Some Cool iPhone apps

Since I have started to branch into some iPhone tips, I thought it was necessary that I rattle off some of my favourite iPhone apps. If you havent got these apps, then well, get them already!

Ragdoll Blaster

Without a doubt, one of the greatest games on the iPhone is ‘Ragdoll Blaster’. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a physics game that basically involves shooting ragdolls at targets. Sounds easy, and often is, however the idea is to resist the temptation of spamming, and complete each level shooting as few ragdolls as possible. Try it, and see if you can beat 156 dead ragdolls

Scramble / Scramble 2

Another game you should, and most likely will get addicted to is Scramble, or Scramble 2. The idea behind this game is to find as many words as possible within a random plot of letters. The idea is pretty simple; the longer the word, the more points.

One of the best features of the game is definitely the ability to challenge friends. Each player is given a unique “Friend Code” which you can use to challenge or be challenged by your mates. Feel free to send me a challenge, my unique friend code is 3701 5066 61!

Remote

Remote is an application built by Apple that allows remote interaction between iTunes on a PC, and your iPhone.  It is REALLY simple and REALLY easy to set up, and allows you to access to your entire iTunes library. Works great for when you want to control the music without sitting next to your computer.

eBuddy

This is probably one of the most versatile IM clients available for iPhone. It allows you to connect to accounts from MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, GTalk, Facebook, ICQ, MySpace and Hyves!

There are both free and paid versions of this, however I think the only difference is the ability to send / receive images.

Blocked

Well if it wasn’t already obvious that I love my iPhone games, it will be now! The next app that is worth a mention is called Blocked.  This is a really addictive puzzle game that involves sliding a series of blocks around in an attempt to slide the blue block off the board. One of the things that makes this game great is the 5 difficulty levels, and a total of  100 levels – some of which are quite difficult! This guy costs around a dollar.

Make it Mine (MIM)

For those with Jailbroken devices, one little app that allows a little more personalisation is Make it Mine.  This is a really simple app, which basically gives you the ability to replace your operator logo on the top left of your screen with the text of your choosing. Also, if for some reason you don’t like having a clock on the top center of your screen, you can replace this too.  Check out any of the above screenshots for an example.

Thats about all for now (simply because I’m too lazy to add more)!  If you want me to cover any more apps send me an email or leave a comment.

iTunes “This computer is no longer authorized..”

So, this week when synchronising my iphone I was faced with an interesting message:

This computer is no longer authorized for applications that are installed on the iPhone “iMoo”. Would you like to authorize this computer for items purchased from the iTunes Store?”

Sub-note: “If you do not authorize this computer, 27 applications, including “ColorSplash”, and their data will be deleted from this iPod.”

Anyways as expected, when i pressed “Authorize” button provided, it didn’t actually work. So I pressed cancel and didn’t bother about it, however I soon found that many of my apps were not working, they would simply close straight away.

So anyways, thinking iTunes had finally worked out that my phone was jailbroken, I jumped on google and had a bit of a look around.

Turns out, it hadn’t… to my surprise the fix was pretty (well really) simple.

1. Log in to the administrator account.
   • Note: If you do not have access to an administrator password, you will need to contact the administrator of this computer. If this is a work computer, this may be your IT department.
2. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed. You can download the latest version free.
3. Choose Store > Authorize Computer.
4. Enter your iTunes account name and password in the resulting dialog
   • Note: Following this step, I was told that my computer is already authorized
5. Lastly, right click on the iPhone under devices on the left panel, and click “Sync”

All done With a bit of luck you should be able to sync with no probs at all

If the above steps work for you, please like, tweet or share using the buttons below. Cheers.

OSX and maximising windows… RightZoom

One of the first differences a new osx user will come across, is the different behaviour of the application maximise buttons (the round green ones):

Anyways if you’re coming from windows, you will be used to the maximise button expanding a window to fill the entire screen. This is not the case with osx. It will simply maximise it to a reasonable size without consuming all your valuable screen real estate.

However, if you are struggling to get used to this feature or like to run your apps at full screen, there is a small program written by ‘BlazingTools Software’ that will fix this up and make your osx installation one step closed to windows The program is known as RightZoom and its completely free. Oh and it works on Snow Leopard too!