Tutorials
Moving Mail.app Rules to a Different Mac
Matt Cone June 15, 2012
So you use Mail.app for email. And you’ve created rules in Mail.app to perform automatic and complex actions on incoming messages. If you’re like most, you probably use rules to filer spam, move messages from certain senders to different folders, execute AppleScripts, and automatically respond to people when you’re out of the office. Which is great! But if you use multiple Macs, or if you purchase a new Mac, you’re faced with a perplexing problem: How do you backup and export Mail.
How to Benchmark Your Mac
Matt Cone June 13, 2012
There’s been a lot of talk recently about how the new MacBook Pros compare to existing Mac models. The new MacBooks are faster, of course. We know because the experts ran a series of tests to benchmark the computers and compare them to older models. But you don’t have to let the experts have all of the fun. With a free tool called Geekbench, you can benchmark your own Mac and compare its performance to other Macs and PCs.
How to Share Your iTunes Library
Matt Cone June 12, 2012
Did you know that you can share the music, movies, books, and podcasts on your Mac with the other users connected to your network? You can. All you have to do is enable a couple of settings in iTunes. It’s an ideal way to let others access your multimedia content, and it’s a solution that works in homes, dormitories, workplaces, and even schools. Here’s how to do it: Open the iTunes application.
How to Find the Best DNS Servers
Matt Cone June 12, 2012
We’ve previously discussed how to change the DNS servers on your Mac, iPad, and AirPort Extreme. But how do you know which DNS servers to use? There are dozens of free DNS providers, and all of them claim to offer the best service. Don’t worry. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to find the best DNS servers, no matter where you’re located or which device you’re using. Why Can’t Anyone Tell Me Which DNS Servers to Use?
Automatically Download TV Shows to Your Mac
Richard Myers June 8, 2012
So you’ve read the Perl programming language articles here on Macinstruct, and you’re feeling more comfortable with Perl in general. (If you missed them, see Getting Started with Perl and Using CPAN to Extend Perl.) Now you’re wondering how to use this information to do something cool. How about building a solution that automatically downloads TV shows to your Mac? That’s right. With some free tools, a little configuration, and a few hundred lines of Perl, you can automatically download new episodes of TV shows to your Mac.
Punching Up Screen Grabs With Preview
Ric Getter June 7, 2012
When creating documentation, one of my more time-consuming tasks used to be punching up screen shots with labels, arrows, highlights and whatever. With its ability to mix vector (scalable text, lines and shapes) and bitmap graphics, Adobe’s Fireworks was my favorite tool, though it bordered on software overkill. Recently, I was in a rush to get something wrapped up and posted on a deadline and was nowhere near a copy of Fireworks.
Using CPAN to Extend Perl on Mac OS X
Richard Myers June 6, 2012
So you read Getting Started with Perl on Mac OS X and you’re starting to write little Perl scripts to get things done. You learned a few things along the way, and even though you’ve surely hit some speed bumps, you’re still rearing to go. Today, let’s talk about extending your abilities by installing some modules from CPAN. What is CPAN? CPAN is the “Comprehensive Perl Archive Network” - a collection of over one hundred thousand Perl modules ready to be installed and used by you to extend your Perl chops.
Import Your AirPort Extreme Configuration
Matt Cone June 4, 2012
So you own an AirPort Extreme and the unthinkable happened: You had to reset the base station to the default settings. All of your network settings have been lost. Now what? If you thought to export your AirPort Extreme configuration before you reset the base station, you can import that configuration file and instantly restore all of your network settings. (If you didn’t export the configuration before the reset, you’ll have to start over and set up the AirPort Extreme again.
Export Your AirPort Extreme Configuration
Matt Cone June 4, 2012
Setting up an AirPort Extreme is a painstaking process that can take hours or even days. But your work isn’t finished when you get the AirPort Extreme working the way you want it. The last step is exporting your AirPort Extreme’s configuration file to save all of those configuration settings and back them up. If you ever need to reset your AirPort Extreme to the default settings, or if it ever resets accidentally, you can restore your configuration settings by importing the configuration file with the AirPort Utility application.
Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's Hard Drive
Matt Cone June 2, 2012
Upgrading the hard drive is a cost-effective way to increase your storage space and speed up your MacBook Pro, especially if you purchase a solid-state drive. Hard drives are like processors and other electronic components - their capacity doubles approximately every two years. If you plan on keeping your MacBook Pro for longer than two years, you’ll want to consider upgrading your hard drive at least once. Finding a New Hard Drive There are two different types of drives available: Hard disk drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD).