os x

Dropbox is one of the more popular cloud-based syncing and storage tools, and offers Mac users a convenient way to transfer files from one system to another, or share files with colleagues. Dropbox can sometimes give you errors, saying that it cannot transfer something because it does not have permission to access some of the files being copied.

If this happens, then it could be because of an improper permissions setup with the Dropbox configuration files in your account, or with the files currently being copied.

If a permissions error such as this occurs, then the first thing that might … Read more

OS X offers different folder view options that can be set by clicking the corresponding view button in the Finder toolbar: you can choose from list view, column view, Cover Flow, and icon view. Column view, one of the most popular, makes possible easy navigation of the filesystem using arrow keys.

While this view is convenient, in some cases its default column width may be too small for the file and folder names that you use, so when you navigate through your files a significant number of names will be truncated and condensed.

To manage these situations, you can drag … Read more

Unless you've been living in a cave with no access to the Internet, you likely know Google Reader is now dead. If this comes as a surprise to you, you still have time to export your Reader data through Google's Takeout service. Be sure to do this before July 15th, when Google will remove Reader from its Takeout offerings.

One of the many Google Reader replacement services that has popped up since Google announced Reader's execution date is Feedbin.

Feedbin is a subscription service, costing $3 a month or $30 a year, with an API for developers … Read more

Even though contextual menus are largely useful when using a mouse or trackpad, sometimes they can be convenient to activate when navigating or managing your computer with the keyboard. For some operating systems like Microsoft Windows, you can press a contextual menu keyboard button to activate the system's contextual menu on a selection of items and copy them, send them via e-mail, or otherwise manipulate them.

Unfortunately, OS X does not support an option to activate the contextual menu without using the pointer. The menu in this operating system is linked directly to pointer's location, so even if … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions sent in by our readers.

This week, readers asked questions about whether or not a memory upgrade will result in more power draw and affect battery life, managing a nonfunctional SD card after a crash, how to dismiss update notifications for one application vs. another in the Mac App Store, and how to undo a command that forces the system to boot to Safe Mode at each start-up.

I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in … Read more

One of the relatively hidden but often invaluable features of OS X is its support for services, which is when one application can provide a function or capability to another, and accept some input such as text, files, or images, and perform a separate task with this data.

For instance, if you are in Safari and wish to send a selection of text to a friend in an e-mail, you can click and drag to highlight it, and then use a service to create a new e-mail that contains this text. Likewise, you can select text in Word, Pages, TextEdit, … Read more

One of the new features Apple has added to OS X in the most recent version is a dictation service, where you can speak phrases and paragraphs and have the system input them into any supported text field.

Being a global service, Dictation is available in most browsers, word processors, and other programs where you might input a considerable amount of text.

When enabled in the Mountain Lion "Dictation & Speech" system preferences, then when in a text field you simply need to press the Function key twice, and the small dictation indicator will appear. Spoken phrases will … Read more

If you are a Firefox user, you may have noticed that yesterday Mozilla released an updated version of the browser. This new update includes a number of security updates and graphics optimizations, but in addition OS X users are now able to monitor downloads directly in the Dock.

When you download a file in Safari or prior versions of Firefox, the download process can be followed by going to a special Downloads window, where you can monitor overall and individual download progress; however, this requires you to keep such a window open. Even though Safari's downloads toolbar menu will … Read more

When you boot OS X or attach a hard drive, the system will automatically try to mount any available volumes so you can access or format them for use. However, there may be times when you don't wish this to happen.

For example, if you have a dual-boot setup such as OS X 10.7 on one partition and OS X 10.8 on another, then you may wish to prevent one boot volume from being easily modified and perhaps corrupted when you are in the other operating system.

To do this, you will need to make use of … Read more