The missing gigabytes of disk space on my Mac
My Mac was missing roughly 130 GB of internal disk space. I suspected APFS/Time Machine snapshots, but find it hiding in the leftovers from the Mac App Store.
macOS
I’m a macOS power-user who’ve worked on macOS software design and development professionally for six years.
How to disable Adobe Cloud Sync on macOS
Adobe doesn’t give you an off-switch for its cloud storage service. However, you can still turn it off and prevent it from running in the background.
I replaced the aging battery on my MacBook Pro
The battery on my seven-year-old MacBook Pro 15″ had begun to swell and replacing it myself was way cheaper than via an authorized dealer.
RunCat and the battery-impact of processor indicators
RunCat is a desktop pet that lives in your Mac’s top bar. It runs faster when your Mac is busy but it can also prevent it from entering energy-saving modes.
How to auto-lock your computer on a schedule (e.g. at bedtime)
Get instructions for how to configure your computer lock itself at a specific time (such as your bedtime) for macOS, Windows 10, and Linux.
How to change the keyboard layout on the macOS login screen
Set the keyboard layout/language on Mac’s login window, and fix the issue of it being reset to the wrong layout (e.g. ABC Keyboard) after rebooting.
Your web browsers are slowing down your Time Machine backups
Third-party web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome slows down your Mac’s Time Machine backups by dumping their files in all the wrong places.
Safari’s default media controls get blocked when CSP is applied
Any HTTP Content-Security-Policy blocks the default <audio>/<video> controls in Safari unless you deliberately make it less secure.
How to configure multiple NTP servers on macOS
Set up multiple network time protocol servers on macOS to increase system reliability.
Excessive heat from MacBook Pro under macOS ‘Mojave’
My late-2013 model MacBook Pro ran down the battery quickly and gave off lots of heat. Here’s how to fix the problem after upgrading to macOS 10.14 ‘Mojave’.
Get the Apple News app for macOS in unsupported regions
Here is how to enable the Apple News app on macOS when you’re not in one of the app’s supported countries.
Software downloads now contain unique tracking identifiers
Popular software vendors inject unique tracking identifiers when you download their installers to track you all the from the web and onto the desktop.
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The inadequate Windows keyboard layout
I simply don’t get the characters and symbols I use every day with the default Windows keyboard layout.
How to verify that you’ve downloaded genuine Apple software
Tutorial demonstrating how to validate code signing certificate signatures on macOS updates and other Apple software installers.
Why I choose the Linux desktop
The Linux desktop aligns more with my values; as Windows and macOS seek to restrict ever-more user freedoms.
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It’s high time Apple enabled the OS X firewall by default
Microsoft got trashed by the security community for failing to deploy a firewall by default in Windows. Why are Apple products not given the same scrutiny?
Get rid of aggressive Safari promotions in macOS
Apple wants you to use Safari real bad and send aggressive marketing notifications if you’re using a third-party web browser.
New default browser setting protection in macOS
Apple knows malicious software will try to change your default web browser. However, do the new settings-preserving protections go too far?
How to fix the size of the open and save dialogs on Mac
The open and save dialogs may become too large for you to reach the Open and Save buttons. Here is how to get them back to the normal size.
macOS adds XZ-compression support
Apple adds command-line support for high-efficiency file compression format.
Use macOS’ screenshot tool as a screen ruler
Learn how to use macOS built-in keyboard shortcuts to measure pixel-lengths on the screen.
Apple pushes to decentralize search engines in Safari
Safari 8 wants you to use more than one search engine. Its address field auto-discovers and installs OpenSearch providers to get you where you’re going quicker.
Mac’s “Default Browser Helper” plug-in is injected into web browsers
macOS has a weird default browser plug-in that loads itself into all web browsers. Apple uses the plugin to monitor what web browsers people are using.