Resetting Bluetooth to Fix Apple Mouse Problems

Posted on April 10th, 2008 by R.J.
Whenever I take my laptop away from my Apple Mighty Mouse or turn the mouse off I have problems reconnecting the mouse to Bluetooth.  Even when the computer is in discovery mode, the mouse is not found.  The only way to reconnect was to manually turn bluetooth off and on.
 
To make this easier and faster, and to learn how to use Dashcode, I made this ResetBluetooth widget that resets the bluetooth so that the might mouse and other bluetooth connections are refreshed.  Try it out if you have the same problem.
  
 ResetBluetooth
Download ResetBluetooth Widget
  
 Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is required. If you’re using Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, Show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it. If you’re using a browser other than Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, unarchive it and place it in /Library/Widgets/ in your home folder. Show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it.

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Slow Motion: Not Really Useful…

Posted on March 19th, 2008 by R.J.

Today I accidentally found out that by holding the shift key while minimizing a window or viewing stacks or the dashboard, slow motion genie-effect will be activated.  This really isn’t useful but it is interesting to watch.

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Hidden Files Widget

Posted on March 18th, 2008 by R.J.
Hidden files are files on the computer that are concealed from view normally.  They are typically system files and other files that you would not deal with very often. If you want to see hidden files, it is much easier to use this widget than to type the terminal command.
 
Here is the terminal command:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
 
And here is the widget:

Hidden Files Widget
Hidden Files Widget 
 
Just press the On/Off button and hidden file visibility will be toggled on in Finder.  Press it again to change it back. 

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Text Calculator for Dashboard

Posted on March 16th, 2008 by R.J.
The calculator that comes with Dashboard seems a little archaic, doesn’t it?  Not to mention downright ugly… 
 
Try this texted based calculator widget.  It adds a lot more functionality to the dashboard and it is a lot more sophisticated than the default calculator.
 
Calculator Widget
Widget Calculator 
 

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Safari Web Inspector for Web Designers

Posted on March 5th, 2008 by R.J.
Safari actually has a web inspector built in that can be activated with the following terminal command.
 
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true
 
After executing the command, the web inspector can be used by right clicking on any part of a web page and clicking “Inspect Element.”   Safari Web Inspector 

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Making a New Keyboard Shortcut

Posted on March 4th, 2008 by R.J.

This method is great to create a keyboard shortcut for a menu item in any application. It is somewhat limited because it cannot do anything that is not already in a menu bar menu. It can not launch applications or perform actions that are on preference panes. However, it is still very useful and most of the actions you want to perform are in the menu bar anyways.

1. Open System Preferences->Keyboard & Mouse->Keyboard Shortcuts

2. Press the + button to add a shortcut.

Keyboard Preferences Window

3. Select the application that the shortcut is for or “all applications”. Fill in the exact name of the menu item, like “Merge All Windows”. To make the shortcut, simply press the shortcut keys together.

Making a New Shortcut

Done! The shortcut will appear at the bottom of the shortcut list and will work in the application. You can delete or edit the shortcut here.

Making a New Shortcut

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Quicksilver: The Omnipotent Efficiency Tool

Posted on March 3rd, 2008 by R.J.

Quicksilver Icon

Ask most hard-core Mac users what their most important efficiency tool is and they will answer: Quicksilver.

Quicksilver, at its core, is an application launcher, just like the Dock or Finder, but Quicksilver acts much faster and with more flexibility. In addition, Quicksilver can use a number of plug-ins that make it much more than an app launcher. It can be configured to control iTunes, send emails, edit file properties, and much more.

It is difficult to understand exactly how Quicksilver works without trying it yourself. Here is an example:

- Open Quicksilver ( with a keyboard shortcut ) and it appears on top of the screen. You can type the name or part of the name of an app, file, etc and Quicksilver will find all possible options.

Quicksilver1

- In this example, “word” was typed and Quicksilver found the best match. Word can be launched by pressing enter.

This is a very simple example of using Quicksilver and you will find that it is incredibly useful in many situations. After using it for a while, it is difficult to imagine using a Mac without it.

Unfortunately, earlier this year, development on Quicksilver stopped. It is currently updated for Leopard and is open-source.

Visit the Quicksilver website for more info.

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Basic Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by R.J.

Keyboard shortcuts are vital in order to use a computer efficiently.  Most of the simple tasks that you perform with the mouse can be accomplished much faster with a keyboard shortcut. With some exceptions, the mouse is a relatively slow way to use the computer.  Here are some important shortcuts that will have you working faster right away:

Key Legend: 
Command Key - Command Key
Up Arrow Key - Shift Key
^ - Up Arrow Key 
 
Most people already know these four, but they are essential:
Command KeyX – Cut
Command KeyC – Copy
Command KeyV – Paste
Command KeyZ - Undo
 
More shortcuts that I could not do without: 
 
For Finder:
Command Key^ - Moves up a folder (opens the parent folder) See Image Below 
?? Shortcut - Move Up Folder  
How do you open the enclosing folder here? No back button, it’s not in column view..? Use  Command Key^ to move up a folder.

Command KeyI - Gets info about the currently selected file or folder
Spacebar or Command KeyY Uses Quick Look to view the file
       - Using Quick Look is significantly faster than opening a file
in its native application if you don’t need to edit it. 

For Web Browsing:
Command KeyT - Creates a new tab
Command KeyR - Reload page  

 

Shortcuts that work in most applications:
Command KeyW - Closes current window or tab
Command KeyQ - Quits the open application
Command KeyN - Same as File->New
Command KeyO - Same as File->Open
Command KeyS - Same as File->Save
Up Arrow KeyCommand KeyS - Same as File->Save As… (Only works in some apps)
Command KeyP - Same as File->Print
Command KeyM - Minimize, - Open Preferences
Command KeyA - Select all (files or text, etc.)  

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Welcome to The Efficient Mac User!

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by R.J.

This is my first blog post and I am pretty excited to start this site.

The goal of The Efficient Mac User as of right now is to offer a resource of tips, articles, and pointers on how to use a Mac (or any computer, really) more efficiently. I believe that most people do not use their computers as well as they could and that with a few changes to computer-using habits, anyone can be a lot more efficient and use his or her time more wisely.

The Efficient Mac User will introduce many of these concepts as well as other posts regarding Apple computers and the applications available for them.

Please check in regularly for the most recent updates!

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