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Mac OSX Noob thread of OSX noobs

LCfiner

Member
Guled said:
What app could I use to search and add the lyrics/album cover to the song I'm listening to on itunes? Also, looking in the wallpaper threads, I see people's mac with cool additions and stuff on their desktop. It there a good site that has ways you could improve a macbook visually?

itunes will add cover art automatically. i think all you need is an itunes store account

as for lyrics, i use the "harmonic" widget that runs in the dashboard and automatically searches for then adds lyrics to the currently playing track
 

movie_club

Junior Member
sorry i havnt had to the chance to read through this thread to see if this was answered aleady but what is a good app to display my itunes cover art on desktop?
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
ConfusedMan09 said:
Are there any alternatives for running windows on my macbook, other than BootCamp? Something kinda like VMWARE. Thanks
Crossover for running individual applications. I'm able to run Steam and IE6 for the one time I absolutely needed it via Crossover.
 
Is there some sort of WinRAR equivalent for OSX? I hate how the default compression tool automatically extracts compressed files without telling you anything, and i'd like to have some compression options.
 
_leech_ said:
Is there some sort of WinRAR equivalent for OSX? I hate how the default compression tool automatically extracts compressed files without telling you anything, and i'd like to have some compression options.
The Unarchiver. It does default to automatically extracting, so you'll have to go in and change that.

UnrarX is another option. It's not as pretty, but the Unarchiver sometimes shits itself on password-protected files.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
The Unarchiver. It does default to automatically extracting, so you'll have to go in and change that.

UnrarX is another option. It's not as pretty, but the Unarchiver sometimes shits itself on password-protected files.

Thanks, that seems to be working pretty well. It doesn't seem to support compression, though...
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
_leech_ said:
Thanks, that seems to be working pretty well. It doesn't seem to support compression, though...
So you wanna make a RAR? Why? Everyone can decompress ZIPs.
 
Phobophile said:
So you wanna make a RAR? Why? Everyone can decompress ZIPs.

RAR compresses better, and I hate that I can't even choose the level of compression (or any options at all) with the default compression tool, it's very lacking.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
_leech_ said:
RAR compresses better, and I hate that I can't even choose the level of compression (or any options at all) with the default compression tool, it's very lacking.

Does a few MB really matter these days, though?

And I much prefer keeping the tasks separate. Decompressing archives should be effortless, and it is. Opening a whole app and making a job of it seems so fucking backwards to me.

If you NEED an app with control get SimplyRAR, I think.
 
SnakeXs said:
Does a few MB really matter these days, though?

And I much prefer keeping the tasks separate. Decompressing archives should be effortless, and it is. Opening a whole app and making a job of it seems so fucking backwards to me.

If you NEED an app with control get SimplyRAR, I think.

Sweet, thanks!
 

Blackhead

Redarse
What are the file types that QuickLook handles? Is Apple including more file types support in Snow Leopard or is there a way to add that now on my computer?
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Charred Greyface said:
What are the file types that QuickLook handles? Is Apple including more file types support in Snow Leopard or is there a way to add that now on my computer?
Pretty much anything that can be opened natively through a vanilla install of OS X.
 

LCfiner

Member
Charred Greyface said:
What are the file types that QuickLook handles? Is Apple including more file types support in Snow Leopard or is there a way to add that now on my computer?

it won't handle divx stuff or wmv (obviously).

use Perian and Flip4Mac to handle both those issues, respectively.

I don't think SL adds any new codec support.
 

DuckRacer

Member
LCfiner said:
it won't handle divx stuff or wmv (obviously).

use Perian and Flip4Mac to handle both those issues, respectively.

I don't think SL adds any new codec support.
Unless I'm misreading your post, Flip4Mac does let you view WMV files through quick look (and not force you to open up a F4M'd Quicktime to play it).
 

Killthee

helped a brotha out on multiple separate occasions!
Charred Greyface said:
What are the file types that QuickLook handles? Is Apple including more file types support in Snow Leopard or is there a way to add that now on my computer?
You can add more now.

Killthee on Page 3 said:
For the OP: Quicklook Plugin List is a great site for QL plugins. BetterZip, Folder List, QLColorCode (to make code previewing easy), FLV (requires Perian), Adium Chat Log, and the MKV edit (requires Perian) are all awesome.

I wish more developers would develop more QL plugins....
 

LCfiner

Member
DuckRacer said:
Unless I'm misreading your post, Flip4Mac does let you view WMV files through quick look (and not force you to open up a F4M'd Quicktime to play it).

yes it'll work but it seems to always have to spend a few seconds (or longer) importing the wmv before it'll preview. I just use VLC to view wmv stuff. it's faster.

and it's probably obvious that i misread the post and thought Charred asked about Quicktime and not Quicklook..
 

Jasoco

Banned
Killthee said:
You can add more now.

I wish more developers would develop more QL plugins....
I wish the creators of JustLooking would make one to view animated GIF files in QuickLook. I love JustLooking for viewing them. I can finally see them animate at full speed without having to drag them into Firefox. JustLooking literally launches faster than it takes Firefox to wake up and load up the URL to the GIF on my HD. But I'd love to see this in the Finder at a glance.

I'd create it myself if I knew a speck of Cocoa! Do GIF's still have licenses attached to them? I recall Compuserve used to own them. Do GIF openers still have to pay royalties to open GIF's or are they open now?
 
the Wireless service in my building is not working and cannot be fixed until monday

so trying to steal wireless from the neighbors is useless for me I hate being sneaky so I am outside sitting at a small downtown green and the Public Library has free wireless for those with a Library Card

I wonder if this macbook pro will really last me 5 hours out here? The weather is great 2pm on a Saturday :D

maybe it will only give me 3 hours before I have to go home and charge unless I use the sockets at the park they they plug sound equipment for stage shows and xmas lights year round

Is it safe to plug into outdoor power? Any of you guys ever tried that?
 

Blackhead

Redarse
Thanks peeps, those plugins are awesome. Only plugin that's high on my list but not available is a cbr/cbz quicklook

Jasoco said:
I wish the creators of JustLooking would make one to view animated GIF files in QuickLook. I love JustLooking for viewing them. I can finally see them animate at full speed without having to drag them into Firefox. JustLooking literally launches faster than it takes Firefox to wake up and load up the URL to the GIF on my HD. But I'd love to see this in the Finder at a glance.

I'd create it myself if I knew a speck of Cocoa! Do GIF's still have licenses attached to them? I recall Compuserve used to own them. Do GIF openers still have to pay royalties to open GIF's or are they open now?

When you download a new application how do associate files to be opened with it. How do you manage which apps open particular filetypes?

Smiles and Cries said:
the Wireless service in my building is not working and cannot be fixed until monday

so trying to steal wireless from the neighbors is useless for me I hate being sneaky so I am outside sitting at a small downtown green and the Public Library has free wireless for those with a Library Card

I wonder if this macbook pro will really last me 5 hours out here? The weather is great 2pm on a Saturday :D

maybe it will only give me 3 hours before I have to go home and charge unless I use the sockets at the park they they plug sound equipment for stage shows and xmas lights year round

Is it safe to plug into outdoor power? Any of you guys ever tried that?
Never had a problem with an outside power socket. Although my power supply cable did melt once but I blame that on using a macbook charger with a macbook pro :p
 
I have no idea how long to batt power will last keeps changing in the status all the time from less than 2 hours to 4 hours hmmm

I wonder if I can download some anime using this Public Library account so I have something to pass the time while I'm offline for the weekend

I am very afraid to plug up out here >_> can't afford a new mac any time soon
 

Jasoco

Banned
Charred Greyface said:
When you download a new application how do associate files to be opened with it. How do you manage which apps open particular filetypes?
Get Info on the file of your type choosing (In this case a GIF file).

In that window you will see an "Open With" section. Choose the app you wish to open GIF's with from the list. (Using Other... if you have to)

To set it to open ALL files that are default associated with another app to open in the new app (In this case JustLooking) click the "Change All..." button.

Voila! All done.


ombz said:
Is there any video converter better than mpeg streamclip. So far it's the only decent free converter I've found (I just got a mac recently).
Streamclip is the best I've seen. And it's free. What more can you ask for?
 

Blackhead

Redarse
Jasoco said:
Get Info on the file of your type choosing (In this case a GIF file).

In that window you will see an "Open With" section. Choose the app you wish to open GIF's with from the list. (Using Other... if you have to)

To set it to open ALL files that are default associated with another app to open in the new app (In this case JustLooking) click the "Change All..." button.

Voila! All done.



Streamclip is the best I've seen. And it's free. What more can you ask for?
Do you have to reboot everytime? Because not all the icons change. Also the unarchiver has a tenacious grip on the rar files that I can't get rid of :/

streamclip is much more than a converter (i use it to play flash vids) but what's wrong with handbrake?
 

Killthee

helped a brotha out on multiple separate occasions!
Charred Greyface said:
Do you have to reboot everytime? Because not all the icons don't change. Also the unarchiver has a tenacious grip on the rar files that I can't get rid of :/
Icons are pretty much instantaneous for me, but i think it depends on the app and whether or not it has an icon for the file type.

As for The Unarchiver, have you tried opening the app?

s4v0.png
 

Blackhead

Redarse
Killthee said:
Icons are pretty much instantaneous for me, but i think it depends on the app and whether or not it has an icon for the file type.

As for The Unarchiver, have you tried opening the app?

s4v0.png
:lol no I forgot/didn't know about that.
 

Jasoco

Banned
Charred Greyface said:
Do you have to reboot everytime? Because not all the icons change. Also the unarchiver has a tenacious grip on the rar files that I can't get rid of :/
No. The icons won't all change right away. Try quitting the Finder. If you're like me, you've had a Quit Finder menu in your Finder menu since 10.2. Alternatively you can open Activity Monitor and quit it that way or force quit it or use the Terminal or whatever.

Side note for Snow Leopard wanters: The Finder now remembers all open windows even if the Finder crashes. Instead of opening the windows that were open the last time it was quit normally. ABOUT FUCKING TIME!

streamclip is much more than a converter (i use it to play flash vids) but what's wrong with handbrake?
Well, new versions of Handbrake can convert, but I found it crashes on a lot of video codecs and badly encoded videos. But it is also a good choice if you can get it to work without crashing.
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Smiles and Cries said:
crap I am stuck using Windows 7

how the hell do you switch back to OS X? I've been searching for this answer for a while
Hold down Option when booting up.
 
To the Mac users who like having their music tagged correctly. What application(s) do you use? and where do you get your Artist, Album, Song information from?

I'm currently using Tagr, with this site for my Album Art and Wikipedia for all my information.

Obviously the accuracy of Wikipedia's information is questionable, and that's therefore the reasoning behind this post.
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
poematik said:
Is there an im client for OSX that has facebook chat?
Adium
 

LCfiner

Member
Blindfutur3 said:
To the Mac users who like having their music tagged correctly. What application(s) do you use? and where do you get your Artist, Album, Song information from?

I'm currently using Tagr, with this site for my Album Art and Wikipedia for all my information.

Obviously the accuracy of Wikipedia's information is questionable, and that's therefore the reasoning behind this post.

I just use itunes. it can do bulk editing and selection good enough for me and there's no need to transfer the edited files back into itunes if i had used an external app.

for album art, if itunes doesn't sell it in the store and can't download it automatically, try using a dashboard widget that grabs art off Amazon and can insert the art into the song playing in itunes.

you can use an apple script like needle drop to make each song only play for a few seconds so thousands of songs with no album art could have the art added in one night (this is how i did it before itunes added album art downloads a couple years ago)

you can use the widget "harmonic" to add lyrics to itunes songs while they play. same concept as the album art method above.
 
Killthee said:
This. Or if you want it to do that automatically install rEFIt.

thank you both

I ejected an "untitled" hd image off my desktop on the OS X side seems it was the Windows hmmm

this all will take a while to learn need to find drivers for Windows 7

I wonder what else I can mess with
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Hitokage said:
Well somebody never does voice chat!
When I do, I boot up Skype. Plus, it used to be my "landline" number, so I always had it open. Though I didn't renew it when it expired. I'm considering getting one again when I get a new place.
 
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