Chris Pirillo » secrets

How to Unlock Secrets in OS X

Chris — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:31:46 +0000

How to Unlock Secrets in OS X is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Steven has created an excellent screencast for all of you Mac users out there. I know – those of you on Windows are having a conniption right now. All I can say is that if you want to see more Windows screencasts, create them! I’ll gladly feature any that follow the few rules that I have. As for this particular video, though, Steven is going to show you how to use a free utility called Secrets in order to unlock some pretty cool added features in OS X.

Once you’ve installed Secrets, you’ll just need to head into your System Preferences. You’ll find Secrets located at the bottom, under the “Other” category. As soon as you open Secrets, you’ll find a ton of different things you can do to your OS X install. Don’t worry that you’ll mess something up. If you aren’t sure what a particular Secret may do, you can always click the “Revert” button to put things back the way you had them. You’ll also find buttons for more help and information, as well as to update the client with new Secrets.

There are Secrets that will help you customize your dock, your folders, your widgets, and more. One of Steven’s favorite Secrets is the one where you can turn all of your folders to X-ray view. What this will do is make your folders in OS X appear to be transparent, so that you can see what’s inside!

Thanks, Steven, for an excellent screencast! For anyone who is now installing and using Secrets, leave us a reply and let us know your favorite one!

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Speed up Mac OS X for Free

Chris — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:44:11 +0000

Speed up Mac OS X for Free is a post from Chris Pirillo

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One of the reasons why I fell in love with the PC back in the day, was because I could tweak it. I loved playing with configuration. I love to mess around and discover speed tweaks that are turned off by default. I was talking with Jeff the other day, and he mentioned that he would be using Safari on his Mac, if only he could enable a single window mode (which is NOT a visible configuration option). I am completely with him there. The only reason I don’t use Firefox as my default browser is due to a GUI that just isn’t “there” yet for me, as well as a few speed issues.

So as I’m talking to Jeff, I mentioned Secrets, which is a database of hidden settings for Mac OS X. When installed, it will scan your system and look at everything you use. It will then recommend what you need to enable in order to make your experience a better one. Think of it as a “TweakUI” that continues to grow as more of these tweaks are added to the central database. All these different things are pulled in from across the Internet and added on a regular basis.

That’s the great thing about OS X. You can tweak certain things. All the tweaks that are surfaced inside the Secrets preference pane are usually only able to be toggled on the command line. This application surfaces them all into a GUI. It’s free, and it’s easy. This is definitely one of the best freeware apps for Mac OS X I’ve come across. Here are just a few of the tweaks you can apply:

Grab File type for screen captures
Every App Scroll bar type
Safari Use circular progress indicator
Dock Dock Appearance, minimize effect and pinning
Xcode Organization name
Safari Enable debug menu
Dashboardlauncher Drag widgets out of dashboard
Finder Show stripes in list views
GlobalPreferences Login window desktop picture
Finder Show hidden files
iTunes Arrows link to library instead of store
Terminal Make focus follow mouse
Frontrowlauncher Enable high definition movie trailers
Safari Show Link URL in Tool Tip

As always, do your homework. Make sure you know what it is you’re toggling, and that you make a good backup prior to making any changes.

What other tweaks and tips do you have? If they’re really good ones, I’ll definitely pass them along to the rest of the world.

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How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

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chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

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