Mac OS: Kill an App with Terminal

You can quit applications by using the Force Quit menu (⌘⌥ESC) but sometimes we need to quite a background application or the application on a remote machine. In Terminal we can do this using the top and kill commands.

Mac OS: Useful Unicode Symbols

Here’s a list of some useful commonly seen Mac symbols, great for when you have to write documentation:

First, pressing  ⌘⌥T (Cmd + Opt + T ) will bring up the special characters menu.

To give us access to these technical codes, we’ll need to add them.

Mac OS & Python: An introduction for the Applescripter

Applescript is a great tool for us Mac users. It’s a scripting language that’s easy and simple enough to not scare away true beginners. A fun feature of Applescript is how to write code, since almost looks like regular English sentences. Applescript was the first scripting language I felt comfortable using. However, its ceiling of limits is pretty low. For some tasks it’s better to turn to other tools.

When jumping from the Applescript ship to Python, the water seems mighty cold. There is a lot more ‘computer code’ and all the commands are new and foreign. Plus, the language’s name is a type of snake! You’ll be feeling homesick for the ease of Applescript, but these feelings will pass.

Python’s developers wanted to create a language that was fun to learn and use, that’s why they named it after the British comedic troupe, Monty Python. And when compared to other languages, like C and Pearl, it is easy to pickup and learn.

Mac OS: Command basics – “cd” and “ls”

For those out there that are new to using Terminal, or need a quick review, this is a quick overview of the “cd” and “ls” commands. These two commands are the basic tools for navigating the file structure “inside” of your Mac. Once these two are mastered, you will be able to comfortably move onto doing cooler, more complicated commands that can be run in Terminal.

Fixing Adobe Applescript Errors

Fixing Adobe Applescript Errors

If you are still using an Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4, you might have run into some funky Applescript errors. These errors sometimes pop-up as, “Error loading /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax”, or “Can’t make 720 into type traditional points”, or something similar.

The fix for this is easy, and is provided straight from Adobe. The error comes from a conflict between the old 32-bit component and the newer 64-bit scripting environment of Mac OS X 10.6+ (Snow Leapard, Lion, and Mountain Lion).

There are three ways to fix the issue, but simplest is to download the updated file and install it into the “/Library/ScriptingAdditions” folder of your Mac, then restart your computer.

Setting Pidgin and Google Talk (GTalk) with A Custom Domain

Pidgin does a great job of connecting all the chat & IM protocols together, and is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux (yeah!), plus it’s open-source and free! Its interface is dead-simple, but sometimes its setup can be confusing for beginners.

If you have a custom email domain for your gmail account, setting up to use Google Talk through Pidgin needs a couple extra tweaks to the settings. Follow these easy steps to get started.