Articles by Eric Buczynski
Eric Buczynski says it all started with the Apple II in grade school. Years later, he moved on to a Performa 6360 and then PowerMac G4s. He’s still interested in emulation, HTML, and icon design, but these days his creativity goes mostly to Mac hardware hacking and customization.
How to Minimize Windows in Slow Motion
May 18, 2012
Ready to learn a fun trick that has absolutely no practical value whatsoever? A trick that you can use to impress your friends and show off your Mac skills? Then you’ve come to the right tutorial! We’re about to teach you how to minimize windows to the Dock in slow motion. In other words, we’re going to take the default minimize window action and slow it way down by a factor of 100 or so.
Change the Background of Finder Windows
May 16, 2012
Are you tired of seeing the boring white background of the Finder windows? Change it! You can spice up your Desktop by setting a folder’s background to a picture or a solid color. Note that this only works when the layout of the folder’s window is set to the icon view. You won’t see the background if you view the items in the list, column, or cover flow views. Setting a Solid Color Background Here’s how to change the background of a Finder window:
How to Back Up Forgotten Items
August 22, 2007
We’re pretty good when it comes to backing up important files and folders, but like most people, there are items we forget to save from time to time. This tutorial will show you how to find those commonly used items and back them up for future reference. Bookmarks Before a recent hard drive “mishap,” we had a long list of bookmarks in Firefox that we overlooked when it came to backing up.
How to Install RAM in a Power Mac G4
June 25, 2007
Adding more memory, or RAM, is the least expensive and easiest way to upgrade your Mac. It lets you run more applications and keep more files open simultaneously. Most Macs have more than one slot to install RAM into, but certain laptops and early iMacs have limited slots, so in those cases it helps to purchase the largest memory sticks you can. How do you know which memory is right for your machine?
Add Extra Fans to Your Mac
June 18, 2007
Summer’s finally here! Soon we’ll hear kids laughing and playing in pools, smell burgers and ‘dogs on the grill, feel pimped-out 4-door sedans blasting rap songs, and listen to people complaining about how their new air conditioner conked out on the hottest day of the year. Don’t let that happen to your Mac. Whether you’re running several CPU-intensive applications at the same time, or you’re in the heat of battle playing multiplayer games, you don’t want your Mac to conk out during the latest DVD-rip or frag-fest this summer.
Mastering Mail.app: A Beginner's Guide
May 11, 2007
If you use Apple’s Mail application, you may be looking at the menu options and wondering what they’re good for. Most of us just use email to keep in touch with friends, family, and coworkers, right? Well, we’re going to show you what other features are available to make mailing easier and more convenient. We’ll cover the options in Mail’s preferences and show you what’s possible. We’ll assume that you already have your email account set up in Mail.
Keep Track of People with Address Book
April 6, 2007
Every Mac ships with a great little organization application called Address Book. This Apple program can help you keep track of friends and family, and it integrates seamlessly with other Apple applications, like Mail. If you’re new to Address Book, you’ll find it to be a very comprehensive way of keeping track of contacts, friends, email lists, and more. There’s so much power packed into Address Book that you’ll wonder why you didn’t use it sooner!
How to iPod Your Ghetto Ride
April 4, 2007
In the May 2007 issue of Mac|Life, there’s a step-by-step article that shows you how to wire an iPod connection into your car stereo. Mac|Life’s steps include removing the stereo from your dashboard and hooking up an external connector through the rear stereo port (RCA auxiliary inputs), if your car stereo has one. Although it’s very informative, the article failed to mention that pulling your factory-installed stereo out of your dash might void your warranty.
Sherlock: The Forgotten Mac Application
March 29, 2007
It was a big hit in Mac OS 8 and 9, an interesting application in Mac OS 10.2 and 10.3, and now it’s been all but forgotten. I’m talking about Sherlock, of course – Apple’s file and web searching tool. Sure, you can search your Mac with Spotlight and get Internet information with Dashboard Widgets, but Sherlock can still come in handy. Look for it in your Mac’s Applications folder.
How to Control Cable Creep
March 23, 2007
Cable creep happens slowly. You buy your Mac, you setup the keyboard and mouse, and everything is fine. But then comes the digital camera, the printer, the iPod, the camcorder, the USB hub and everything else. Before you know it, you have a tangled mess of cables on your desk. Don’t become a victim of cable creep! Organize your cables early and often. How did it get so far? And how the heck is this systems administrator going to swap out a dead switch?