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How To: Speed Up Safari Browser in OSX Lion

http://blog.kevindonahue.com/archives/2011/12/18/how_to_speed_up_safari_browser_in_osx_lion/

If Safari is launching slowing or slow to load web pages in OS X Lion, there's an easy (yet not obvious) resolution. To make Safari launch, load, and browse faster, follow the following tip: 1) In FINDER select GO from the top menu. 2) While the drop down list is displayed, press the ALT / OPTION key 3) You should notice a new item in the drop down menu called LIBRARY 4) Select LIBRARY 5) A new window in the FINDER will open 6) Scroll down and open the folder called CACHES 7) Inside CACHES open the folder named COM.APPLE.SAFARI 9) Locate and delete file called CACHE.DB 10) Close and relaunch Safari. If you follow this tip, you should notice the Safari browser is MUCH faster to start and load web pages in OSX Lion.

December 18 2011, 11:03am | #

I posted to blog.kevindonahue.com

How To: Force Safari to open links in new tab

http://blog.kevindonahue.com/archives/2010/01/04/how_to_force_safari_to_open_links_in_new_tab/

Are you annoyed when a webpage forces Safari to open links in a new window (ie target="new")? Fear not, because there's a simple fix! To force Safari to open new web page links in a new tab rather than a new window, cut & paste the following into Terminal: defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true Restart Safari and you're set!

January 4 2010, 8:08pm | #

I posted to blog.kevindonahue.com

1Password jumps the shark

http://blog.kevindonahue.com/archives/2009/11/14/1password_jumps_the_shark/

For me and many other Mac users, 1Password is the ideal application. I essentially remember — wait for it — one password… ever. The app takes care of creating secure passwords for every website I visit and remembering them. They even have a companion app for iPhone/iPod that allows me to browse with my passwords when I'm mobile. There's even a secure wallet feature for online purchases. I bought 1Password last year and I've used it every single day without fail. It is, without question, the premiere password creation/logging app available today. And that's where our story takes a sad turn.

Recently the guys at Agile Web Solutions, the makers of 1Password, have rather sadly chosen to pursue the abandon the installed user base in favor of future profits. Case in point, the user base has turned to Twitter, Facebook, and even the company's own user forums to request that 1Password enable support for Google Chrome/Chromium browsers. 1Password's response? Not right now, we're busy working to make more money off of you with this future upgrade. Quite a shame to see a good company with a great product put its own interests ahead of the users. For those keeping score, 1Password has jumped the shark.

Tags:
mac
Browsers

November 14 2009, 8:21am | #

I posted to google.com

Lifehacker Pack 2009: Our List of Essential Free Mac Downloads [Downloads]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/LXrINmZVPsM/lifehacker-pack-2009-our-list-of-essential-free-mac-downloads

We've featured countless apps or all sorts over the years, but if you just want a quick look at the best free downloads for your Mac, this post's for you. This is the 2009 Lifehacker Pack for Mac OS X. Like our 2009 Lifehacker Pack for Windows (and its predecessor), the Mac version has the same goal in mind: to provide Mac lovers with a single, handy list of the best free applications that you're likely to use on a regular basis. Note: You can head directly to each application's download page from the [Download] links and see what we originally wrote about them at the [LH Post] link. Productivity Smultron: Whether you like the distraction-free environment of a plain text editor or you like to fire up a powerful environment where you can churn out some serious code, you can't go wrong with the open-soruce Smultron. It sports a nice tabbed interface for working with multiple documents and working inside a directory, syntax highlighting, and even a fullscren mode for those times that you want to work without distractions. [Download] [LH Post] Quicksilver: Even though it's no longer in active development by it's creator, we still can't get enough of this incredible application launcher and-then-some. We've taken you on a beginner's guide to Quicksilver, walked you through the various settings, provided video demonstrations of some of its coolest features, and in general have drooled all over this productivity-boosting application. And even though we're keeping a close eye on Google Quick Search, the Quicksilver-like app from Google that was developed by the same guy who made Quicksilver, it's still no replacement. [Download] Internet/Communication Firefox: All debates about security, memory use, or compatibility amongst the web browsers aside, Firefox can adapt to nearly anyone's browsing habits through a range of adaptations. Whether that's an extension/add-on (and here are our top 10 picks), a Greasemonkey script (again, our 10), or some deep-down about:config tweaks, Firefox can probably be what you want it to be. [Download] [LH Post] Adium: Pronounced like "stadium", Adium is a free, powerful multi-protocol instant messaging client that connects to everything from AIM and Google Talk to Facebook Chat, MySpace Chat, and everything in between. Adium is extremely customizable, works like a charm, and brings way more options to your chats than the OS X standard, iChat. Postbox: If you're not using your email's web interface, use this. It's basically Thunderbird, the open-source email client we'd previously included in our Lifehacker pack, but remixed with stronger, almost Gmail-like powers. It finds and indexes all the attachments in your email account, groups together conversations with similar subject chains with the "Gather" command (like Gmail's conversations), offers tabbed inbox and message views, and lets you organize emails under your own chosen "Topics." It's also got built-in easy setup steps for Gmail and other webmail systems-in other words, everything we're waiting to see Thunderbird implement. [Download] [LH Post] Utilities Unarchiver: OS X's default Archive Utility handles a lot, but the first time you come across slightly more unusual (but still very common) archive types like RAR, you'll notice it stumble. The Unarchiver handles ZIP, TAR, RAR, 7Z, StuffIt, and several more obscure archive types without flinching. [Download] [LH Post] Transmission: The most popular BitTorrent client for OS X, Transmission rolls virtually every feature you'd want out of a good BitTorrent application into one clean, easy-to-use package. You can even remote control your BitTorrent downloads with Transmission, or get clever and start new BitTorrent downloads at home from any computer with Dropbox (mentioned below). [Download] [LH Post] AppTrap: One of the best parts of OS X is that uninstalling an application is as simple as deleting it, right? Yes, but not exactly; often simply deleting the file leaves your computer with old junk files sitting around that used to belong to the application you just deleted. AppTrap automatically detects when you're deleting an application, looks for associated files, and automatically deletes them for you along with the app in question. [Download] [LH Post] Burn: OS X comes with Disk Utility—a very nice burning application plus some—out of the box, but it's often used only for more advanced ISO burning, disk formatting, and other heavy-lifting type activities. Burn, on the other hand, is a simple, user-friendly CD and DVD burning application that does data, audio, video, and disc copying with aplomb. [Download] [LH Post] Multimedia VLC - Got a video or audio file to play? VLC probably plays it. Don't like how heavy Quicktime is? VLC is lighter. Want it free, working on any system, and have it show album art from your tracks? Done and done. [Download] [LH Post] iTunes: We've seen stronger competition for your music management in OS X this year than ever, particularly with the recent release of Songbird, but right now you're still better off sticking with iTunes on your Mac. Not only does it integrate seamlessly with your various iPods, but it also integrates with most of your Mac's iLife applications and other Mac apps. So while you'd better watch out for the competition, iTunes, you're still the favorite for music. [Download] [LH Post] File Backups/Syncing Dropbox: Put simply, Dropbox makes synchronizing your files across Windows, Mac, or Linux systems a very simple, almost magical process. Put a copy of what you're working on or want saved in your Dropbox folder, and it's synchronized to your account, which has 2GB to start with, and gets bigger if you recommend friends. When you're at another one of your own computers, your Dropbox updates and grabs those files. If you're at someone else's system or on a smartphone, head to Dropbox's mobile-friendly site and grab what you need. It's not quite a backup tool, but it is one of those utilities that makes a lot of old habits—thumb drive copying, CD burning, emailing attachments to yourself—seem unnecessary. [Download] [LH Post] Mozy: If Dropbox is where you stash the stuff you're working on or enjoying at the moment, Mozy is the backup service that saves everything for when your system goes black on bootup. The free accounts for Macs (and PCs) offer 2GB of free online space, and with the really smart filtering tools, you can have Mozy crawl your whole system and back up financial documents, Excel sheets, and any file with "Steve" in it. If you spring for a monthly unlimited plan, Mozy is a smart whole-system saver—one that doesn't eat bandwidth when you're using it, and works when you're not working. [Download] [LH Post] If you were to compare this pack of software with our Lifehacker Pack for Windows, you'll notice a fair amount of overlap. That's because, luckily for all of us, in many cases free, cross-platform software is thriving. In other instances, we didn't include a Mac version because the system default is already a very solid choice. (For example, where we recommended Foxit Reader on Windows for lightweight PDF duties, we'd just suggest the built-in Preview in OS X). Other utilities, like Texter, don't have a completely free Mac alternative (though we do very much like TextExpander, which has a free trial beyond which it turns nagware). Things change daily in the world of free software, and we by no means believe that this list is absolutely definitive, so if you've got your own I-can't-believe-they-didn't-include-X must-haves, tell us all about them—and share any other thoughts on our list—in the comments. Happy downloading!

June 16 2009, 7:30pm | #

I posted to delicious.com

Keywurl adds keyword search to Safari beta address bar

http://alexstaubo.github.com/keywurl/

March 7 2009, 5:28pm | #

I posted to blog.kevindonahue.com

Browse… Faster

http://blog.kevindonahue.com/archives/2009/01/12/browse_faster/

If you've got a bit of a tolerance for beta software and Mac OS X, you've got to check out the latest nightly builds of Webkit - the underpinnings for Safari, Google Chrome, and other browsers. It's ridiculously fast. Webkit is still in development — user beware — but I've yet to experience any issues in about a week of HEAVY usage. If you're up for it, download the latest nightly build of Webkit and also check out Nightshift, which automatically updates your webkit build. (Teh awesome!)

Tags:
mac
Browsers

January 12 2009, 7:26pm | #

I posted to delicious.com

CrossOver Chromium - Google Chrome for Mac

http://www.codeweavers.com/services/ports/chromium/

October 10 2008, 9:46pm | #