One issue is that chat is now hidden as soon as you start any call, be it audio or video. I could possibly see where a video caller might want the full window to be consumed by video, but I certainly don't need a huge avatar on my screen during an audio call. Maybe the folks at Skype are…
Dave Hamilton
Dave Hamilton co-founded both The Mac Observer and <a href="https://www.backbeatmedia.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">BackBeat Media</a>, and he is producer and co-host of the <a href="https://www.macgeekgab.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">Mac Geek Gab Podcast</a>. He has worked in the computer industry since the early 1990s, doing time as a consultant, trainer, network engineer, webmaster, and programmer. He has worked on the Mac, all the various Windows flavors, BeOS, a few brands of Unix, and it is rumored he once saw an OS/2 machine in action. Before that he ran some of the earliest Bulletin Board Systems, but most of the charges have since been dropped, and not even the FBI requests that he check in more than twice a year. Dave's reachable for paid consulting at <a href="https://www.davethenerd.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">DaveTheNerd.com</a> and you can find links to him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ here, too.
Articles by Dave Hamilton
iTunes 11.2.1 Fixes Hidden Users Folder Bug, Restores Folder Visibility
Speculation went wild, with many (including Apple Support reps) presuming that this was intentional on Apple's part and now policy. Apple ended that speculation late last night with the release of iTunes 11.2.1 (also available via Software Update). Install this and you can literally watch your /Users folder re-appear during the installation process. No reboot…
Hidden Users Folder Result of iTunes 11.2 and Find My Mac Combination, not 10.9.3
Never fear, we published a few tricks to unhide those folders. We became curious when more and more people began reporting that their folders hadn't disappeared, so we set about doing some isolation testing. After all, OS X 10.9.3 wasn't the only update Apple released yesterday. iTunes 11.2 made its public debut, as well. Turns out that hidden /Users folder has nothing…
Directly Rip and Convert Blu-ray Disks With Handbrake
Blu-ray, disks, however, are not supported directly by this Handbrake/VLC combo, and that makes things frustrating. Typically you need to first rip the Blu-ray into some format that Handbrake will understand and then you can convert/compress from there. MakeMKV is one such program that will do that Blu-ray conversion. What many users don't realize, though,…
Podcasting How-To Video: Creating a Noise Gate on Your Mac
A noise gate can easily solve this problem by only allowing sound through when the input volume reaches a certain level – i.e. when someone is talking and only then. My favorite audio swiss army knife for the Mac, Audio Hijack Pro, allows you to implement a noise gate very easily. Follow the simple steps in this…
Twitter for Mac's Cache Might be Eating Lots of Your Disk Space. Here's a Fix.
9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub replied that I should also check my “twitter icon cache.” It was time to dig. Twitter operates inside OS X's Sandbox, which means all of its application data lives inside your [home] / Library / Containers folder. For Twitter specifically, that's: [home] / Library / Containers / com.twitter.twitter-mac Doing a quick “Get…
Sponsor: Merlin from Project Wizards
It is my distinct pleasure to have Project Wizards on board this week to sponsor TMO with their awesome project management app, Merlin. Long-time followers of TMO history will note that Project Wizards has been sponsoring our Cirque du Mac party for the past 5 years straight, contributing directly to the benefit of our collective community here. Please join…
Sponsor: The Omni Group
This week it is my absolute pleasure to welcome The Omni Group as our sponsor. And not only is The Omni Group this week's sponsor here, they were also big sponsors of ours during Macworld/iWorld recently, helping to make Cirque du Mac 2014 happen. They deserve (and got!) a big round of applause just for that. But that's…
Sponsor: Get MacX DVD Ripper Pro for Free This Week
I'd like to thank Digiarty for again sponsoring TMO this week. They're always good for a very useful freebee, and this time is no different. In fact, this time is even better than last! From now until the 24th, they're giving away MacX DVD Ripper Pro for free just for you. Yeah, when you go…
Cirque du Mac: This Party Goes to Eleven
It's that time again. Or, well, it's time to talk about Cirque du Mac, but since Macworld/iWorld is happening during a new date range for their show, it means it's technically not that time again. But that's just nitpicking, isn't it? Either way, Cirque du Mac is happening on Friday, March 28th, 2014 and this time… this…
iOS Developers: How To Preserve User Purchases When Releasing a New App
The latter allows users the freedom to restore and upgrade while preserving their purchased features, but Apple doesn't make it obvious how to accomplish this. Our friends at DigiDNA found that employing free in-app purchases solves this problem. Their strategy, in short, is: Simultaneously release the new app alongside an update to the legacy version. Have…
Dave Hamilton: The Mac Is The Reason I'm Here
The very first computer we owned was a Timex Sinclair. With its touchy-feely keyboard and its one hertz screen refresh (connected to an old television, naturally), it was a lean, mean, flight-simulator machine (after waiting a half-hour for Flight Simulator to load). But hey, we all gotta start somewhere. The first real computer we had…
3 Geeky Highlights from 2013, More On Deck for 2014
Secure Email With a tip of the hat to both the NSA and Edward Snowden, it made great sense to re-explore a geeky interest in secure email during 2013 and, indeed, I began using S/MIME and GPGMail again on nearly every email I send out (and if you reply to me, you can then use…
An Apple Geek's Week with Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX
I have made it known that Apple's Retina iPad mini was the tablet I've always wanted, and I've been extremely pleased since I got mine. But I don't live in a vacuum, and I know that there are more than a few companies out there who want a piece of this very lucrative market. I bought Amazon's…
Sponsor: PDFpen from Smile
In what perhaps will be my final post before Thanksgiving, I would like to offer my thanks to Smile, this week's sponsor here at TMO. Our focus for this spot is on PDFPen, the all-purpose PDF editing tool for the Mac. Our world lives half in paper and half online, and PDFs are the bridge between…
The Bridge of Star Trek Enterprise NCC-1701-D at MacTech (Photo Gallery)
As a “perk” for MacTech attendees, the non-profit organization, New Starship, setup a full replica of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a great addition to the conference, and I put together a photo gallery so you could see it, too. According to New Starship Founder and CEO Huston…
Sponsor: PDFpen Scan+
I am happy to welcome Smile back as this week's sponsor here at TMO, and especially so this week because they've asked me to talk about their brand new product, PDFpen Scan+. Your iPhone's got a great camera, and it also has a really killer processor. Put those two things in the hands of the smart…
iOS 7: Apple Mail's 'Swipe to Delete' Only Goes To The Left
iOS 6 users who have upgraded (or will upgrade) to iOS 7 may lament the loss of their “swipe to delete” functionality. In iOS 6, swiping to the right brought up a 'Delete' button, whereas now in iOS 7 that to-the-right swipe causes a different type of navigation. Never fear: Apple hasn't left you in…
Gold iPhone 5s Shipments Begin, Some for Delivery This Week
iPhone 5s orders sold briskly on Friday morning, but those who got their orders in within the first few minutes are beginning to see the payoff for their efforts. iPhone 5s shipments began today, some for delivery as early as Wednesday of this week. Some iPhone 5s Orders Show Delivery for Middle of This Week…
Sponsor: Moom from Many Tricks
I am thrilled today to welcome Many Tricks on board as this week's sponsor here at TMO, especially so because I get to tell you about Moom, their window-managment-enhancement software for OS X. Are you ever frustrated by how much effort it takes to get, say, your Safari window to just the right spot, only to close it…
Sponsor: PDFpen for iPad
It's my pleasure to welcome back Smile as this week's sponsor here at TMO. As those astute readers have already seen in the sidebar, the focus this week is on PDFpen for iPad. As a long time user of PDFpen for Mac, PDFpen for iPad is one of those utilities that I always wished for…
iOS 7's Coalesced Updates: Finally Everyone Stops to Pee at the Same Time
“Alright, time for everyone to use the bathroom,” my father used to say on road trips. “But I don't have to,” was the inevitable whine from (at least) one of us kids. Dad's reply was always the same: “It wasn't a question.” My dad was focused on being as efficient as possible, of course. Instead…
From Teaching Religion to Writing Mail Act-On & MailTags - Scott Morrison at WWDC
Each year at WWDC, TMO interviews a few Apple developers who want to tell their story. The result is usually a number of serious insights into the state of mind of the developer community. In our tenth and final interview, Dave Hamilton chats with Scott Morrison of Indev, famous for MailTags and Mail Act-On for…
