MacShaman, Inc. » Mac

Why you maybe shouldn’t buy a Mac at Best Buy

Craig Batt — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:41:19 +0000

Exhibit A:

Frozen iMac on Display at Best Buy (click image to enlarge)

Exhibit B:

Closer inspection reveals this Adorable Nude Blonde Barbie is most likely going to be auctioned off to someone else! (click image to enlarge)

TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built-in USB Ports

MacShaman Admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:00:18 +0000

Power outlet with built-in USB ports

http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=458

(via @danfrakes)

Snow Checker – Snow Leopard Compatibility Checker

MacShaman Admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:39 +0000

Snow Checker – Snow Leopard Compatibility Checker
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/snowchecker

Still on the fence about upgrading? Check to see if your current software will be compatible with mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, or check compatibility status before you buy new software. Snow Checker compares your current programs with the data found on snowleopard.wikidot.com.

Check out some other useful tools here: http://macshaman.com/get-help/tools/

Testimonial: Boston Casting

Craig Batt — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:19:22 +0000

As a small business owner, my computers are my lifeline. Whenever we have a problem, Craig is there. We can’t afford to lose valuable time. MacShaman is indispensable!

— Angela Peri, C.S.A., Owner, Boston Casting

HowTo: Delete images from within Preview

Craig Batt — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:11:53 +0000

If you use Preview to quickly review multiple photos, you can easily delete unwanted images within the current view.

Open a few photos simultaneously with Preview.
From the Thumbnails Sidebar, select the image(s) you don’t want
Use the “Move To Trash” keyboard shortcut (just like in the Finder): Command – Delete.

The unwanted item will disappear from Preview and be moved from the Finder into the trash.

Alternatively, you can Right-click, or Control-click on the image and select Move To Trash from the pulldown menu.

HowTo: Change Time Machine Backup Interval with Secrets Preference Pane

Craig Batt — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:45:09 +0000

Lets face it- hourly Time Machine backups are a little much! Thankfully, there is a great Preference Pane that can easily adjust this to something more reasonable- like every 2-4 hours, twice a day, etc. Alternatively, you can edit the preference file directly. That information is also provided below.

Change Time Machine Backup Increment with Secrets Preference Pane

1) Download, unzip, and install Secrets preference pane : http://blacktree-secrets.googlecode.com/files/Secrets_1.0.6.zip (for more info about Secrets, go to http://secrets.blacktree.com)

2) Go to System Preferences, and open Secrets Preference Pane

3) Scroll down in left column to Time Machine

4) Change Backup Interval to something else more than an hour. We did the math so you don’t have to. A few examples:

7200 seconds - Backup every 2 hours
14400 seconds - Backup every 4 hours
28800 seconds – Backup every 8 hours
43200 seconds - Backup every 12 hours
86400 seconds - Backup every 24 hours

5) Close System Preferences

This is just one single thing Secrets can do. As you can see once you open it, there are tons of other customizations that can be made.

Change Time Machine backup increment by editing the preference file directly

1) Go to /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/

2) Open com.apple.backupd-auto.plist with any text editor.

3) Find this section:

StartInterval
3600

4) Change interval 3600 to a different amount (in seconds)

5) Save/Close

Testimonial: CMG Architects

Craig Batt — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:48:09 +0000

You have been everything a tech consultant should be and more …

— Carmen Garufo, CMG Architects

Testimonial: Chris O’Neill

Craig Batt — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:43:41 +0000

My wife and I each run our own businesses and rely on our computers daily. We use MacShaman anytime we purchase equipment, software, accessories or need Mac related advice. MacShaman makes all our system changes easily and quickly. Our most recent upgrade was to Leopard, so we could run Time Machine for system backups. MacShaman provided the software, backup drives and expertise to install everything correctly and efficiently. I no longer attempt to make system changes myself, I just call MacShaman!

— Chris O’Neill