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Ozzieburn | Yearly Tips

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Unlock Root - Jan 2009

Right Clicking - Feb 2009

Find out what version of OS X you are running. - Mar 2009

The path in the titlebar of a window - Apr 2009

About this Mac - May 2009

Printing to PDFs - Jun 2009

Built-in Firewall - Jul 2009

Remove Get Software Menu Item - Tiger - Aug 2009

Remove the 'Mac OS X Software...' menu item in Tiger

Warning: if you're not comfy in the terminal and/or vi/pico, this might not be for you.

An unsuccessful attempt at this has the nasty side-effect of not allowing you to run the finder (yes, you'd have to ssh/telnet into the machine to fix it if you mess this up somehow).  The XML file to be edited is located in:

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/StandardMenus.nib/

There is a file named objects.xib in the folder.  First (as root) MAKE A BACKUP copy of that file somewh ere else where you will remember (root, home, wherever, just not the same directory).  I would also make sure you have remote access turned on to telnet in and move the original file back, or the have the ability to swap files out either in OS9 or remotely.  You then need to edit the objects.xib file.  (I did this in pico, but any text editor should work).

Here are the changes (it is important not to skip a step here):

1) In line 7 (<array count="66" name="allObjects">), change '66' to '65'

2) In line 11 (<array count="21" name="items">), replace '21' with '20'

3) Delete the four lines, 20-23
        <object class="IBCarbonMenuItem" id="221">
          <string name="title">Mac OS X Software</string>
          <ostype name="command">soft</ostype>
        </object>

4) Delete line 197
    <reference idRef="221"/>

Log out and in again and it should work fine.  If you have problems, you may need to replace the edited file with the original and try again.

Remove Get Software Menu Item - Panther - Aug 2009

Remove the 'Get Mac OS X Software...' menu item in Panther

Warning: if you're not comfy in the terminal and/or vi/pico, this might not be for you.

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/StandardMenus.nib/

Here are the changes (it is important not to skip a step here):

1) In line 7 (<array count="79" name="allObjects">), change '79' to '78'

2) In line 11 (<array count="21" name="items">), replace '21' with '20'

4) Delete the four lines, 226-229
    <object class="IBCarbonMenuItem" id="216">
      <string name="title">Get Mac OS X Software</string>
      <ostype name="command">soft</ostype>
    </object>

5) Delete line 239
 <reference idRef="221"/>

Log out and in again and it should work fine.  If you have problems, you may need to replace the edited file with the original and try again.

Remove Get Software Menu Item - Jaguar - Aug 2009

Remove the 'Get Mac OS X Software...' menu item in Jaguar

Warning: if you're not comfy in the terminal and/or vi/pico, this might not be for you.

An unsuccessful attempt at this has the nasty side-effect of not allowing you to run the finder
(yes, you'd have to ssh/telnet into the machine to fix it if you mess this up somehow).
The XML file to be edited is located in:

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/StandardMenus.nib

There is a file named objects.xib in the folder.  First (as root) MAKE A BACKUP copy of that file somewh ere else where you will remember (root, home, wherever, just not the same directory). I would also make sure you have remote access turned on to telnet in and move the original file back, or the have the ability to swap files out either in OS9 or remotely.

You then need to edit the objects.xib file. (I did this in pico, but any text editor should work). Here are the changes (it is important not to skip a step here):

1) In line 7 (<array count="77" name="allObjects">), change '77' to '76'

2) In line 11 (<array count="19" name="items">), replace '19' with '18'

3) Delete the four lines, 16-19
        <object class="IBCarbonMenuItem" id="221">
          <string name="title">Get Mac OS X Software</string>
          <ostype name="command">soft</ostype>
        </object>

4) Delete the four lines, 209-212
    <object class="IBCarbonMenuItem" id="216">
      <string name="title">Get Mac OS X Software</string>
      <ostype name="command">soft</ostype>
    </object>

5) Delete line 222
 <reference idRef="221"/>

Log out and in again and it should work fine. If you have problems, you may need to replace the edited file with the original and try again.

Changing the login screen background image - Aug 2009

Desktop Icons - Aug 2009

Show/Hide hidden files in Leopard - Sep 2009

Show/Hide hidden files in Tiger - Sep 2009

Make removable disks stay mounted - Sep 2009

Open Man Pages in Preview.app - Sep 2009

Tetris is built in! - Oct 2009

Change the default format for screen captures - Oct 2009

Hide an application icon in the dock - Oct 2009

Emacs Games - Nov 2009

MOTD - Message Of The Day - Dec 2009

If you use the command line, or users of your computer do, this is a great way to send messages.  If you don't use the command line, then I guess you can just skip this tip.

There is a message system built into OS X for the command line.  It is very simple to use.  All you have to do is to create a text file located in /etc with a filename of motd and just enter in your message in this file.  That is it.  You don't have to restart the machine or log out or anything.  The message in that file is immediately active to the very next time someone logs in to the computer in the command line.

There is a second part to this tip also, and it is even easier then the first.  you can override displaying this motd message on a per user basis if you would like.  For example, if you want to notify the users of the system being down for scheduled updates on a specific time, you can put that message in the motd file, but you don't want to see the message yourself, you can simple create a blank file in your home folder called .hushlogin and that is it.  The next time you log in you won't see the motd.  You can create this empty file in the command line by using "touch .hushlogin" in the terminal.

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