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Mac OS X Secrets of the Elite

anti-drew writes "Stepwise has posted a list of fantastic secrets in MacOS X, which reveals all of the hidden features that you just knew were lurking in there, including preferences you can set from the command line to make everything 10% faster, and extensive class libraries and undocumented Objective C APIs that take all the work out of coding. Literally. Check it out!"

15 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. April by GigsVT · · Score: 5, Funny

    April 1st post? :)

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
  2. Compiler directives... by Glove+d'OJ · · Score: 4, Funny

    I espcially liked the Compiler directive:

    --dwimnwis (Do what I mean not what I said)

    Kind of like WYSIWYG, or WYWINWYS (What You Want Is Not What You Said.)

    I wonder if the new documentation explains the ID-10T errors?

    1. Re:Compiler directives... by dschuetz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I espcially liked the Compiler directive:

      --dwimnwis (Do what I mean not what I said)


      April fools aside, I actually wish there were a switch for this.

      Compilers are often smart enough to be able to parse out what you mean (how many times have you gotten a perl error saying "You left a quote off up there at line 123"?).

      I'd like to see a switch that gives the compiler (interpreter, whatever) the authority to try to fix, for itself, some of these stupid issues. If other non-recoverable errors happen later, then fine, it doesn't have to complete the compile. But if I drop a semicolon and get a hundred new errors as a result, and the compiler can see that if that semicolon is replaced, then why can't I ask it to replace that, warn me what it did, and see if it works?

      Just a thought...

    2. Re:Compiler directives... by coolgeek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I dunno. The best way my old High School computer lab teacher taught me was simply by saying: "It's doing _exactly_ what you're telling it to do". Many many times I imagined strangling the guy for saying that...it really was the best thing he did for me.

      --

      cat /dev/null >sig
  3. Aha! by CoolVibe · · Score: 5, Funny
    defaults write com.apple.EOModeler CrashRandomly No

    I was looking for that setting... Great article!

  4. April Fools. by saintlupus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Oh, God, when will this stupid-assed holiday end?

    It would be funny if there were one or two joke stories. But this just ruins the "Slashdot experience" for a day every year. Annoying and funny are not the same thing, editors.

    --saint

    1. Re:April Fools. by cjpez · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Have you considered that maybe the whole "basically make the site worthless for a day" thing you're perceiving is actually a part of the "Slashdot Experience?"

      Sure, Slashdot's fun. Slashdot brings me some "news" items I might not have heard about otherwise. But it's not like the world's going to end if, for one day out of the year, there's a bunch of bogus stories.

    2. Re:April Fools. by Mignon · · Score: 5, Funny
      Oh, God, when will this stupid-assed holiday end?

      April second, by my calculations.

  5. I hope it has the feature... by !splut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hope it has a feature that allows you to turn off april fools jokes. Anything that lessens the tide of fools joke spamming is a plus in my book.

    --
    The angel in the oatmeal.
  6. Goatse.cx sued under DMCA by Pope+Slackman · · Score: 3, Funny

    from the stare-into-the-abyss dept.
    MEEPT! wrote in to report that the famous troll site goatse.cx has been shut
    down under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act by a gay linux industry trade group called the
    Alternative Network OS and Gay Anus Penetration Enthusiasts. Michael S, an ANOSGAPE spokesman,
    was quoted as saying "goatse.cx has made a mockery of the anal fisting industry, and left themselves spread
    wide open to litigaytion. We hope this anal action will send a clear message to this "trolling" community
    that wide-open man-holes are not a laughing matter." The goatse.cx webmasters were optimistic, however,
    stating that the graven image, now sacred to trolls and crapflooders everywhere, was found in the
    pubic domain and was in no way infringing on any GAPE copyright.
    Similar sites such as Comp-u-geek and "Hey everybody, I'm looking at gay porno!" were unaffected.

  7. Taco's fiancee by wiredog · · Score: 3, Informative

    Has been redecorating...

  8. The Great Slashdot Moulting by TrevorB · · Score: 5, Funny

    OK, I've about had it with April Fools, and I have a suggestion to end this nonsense. I call it "The Great Slashdot Moulting"...

    Every year, when April 1st comes along and the Slashdot stories are nothing but repetative joke-fare, all of us with karma > 20 should flood the system with crap, ALL POSTED AT +1 bonus. First posts, Second posts, 50th posts, Taco's wife ain't so hot, whatever...

    Better yet, if you've got mod points, mod the crap UP. :)

    Evryone blow all their karma IN ONE DAY... (-3 per post * 17 posts is about -50 karma). Then on April 2nd, create a new account and start over for the year.

    The system will clog up with so many moderator requests it will either break the system or they'll actually HAVE TO STOP POSTING THIS CRAP on April 1st. They can't put us all in jail! Or that whatever that user flag that Taco appears to be weilding around like a penis replacement. Bwahahaha!

    What the hell is karma good for if you can't burn it all in one amazing burst of glory? And imagine everyone doing it at once. An orgy of reverse karma whoring ... WOOHOO!!!

    Let the modding war on this post begin.

    1. Re:The Great Slashdot Moulting by TrevorB · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It would be simple if the jokes were actually funny. Right now I'm worried the cumulative groaning effect is detrimental to my health.

      The other simple solution is to not read slashdot for the day. But that's a head in the sand resolution. It seems like a large percentage of the posters (and I know that's not the readers) hate this shit. And my scheme doesn't affect Taco's other 90%, so why does it matter to the readers?

      Focusing all the jokes on a single day turns laughter into a Hallmark greeting card day. Like only showing love on Valentine's Day, or only showing ramapant commercialism on Christmas Day.

      Geez, and to think about 40 of my 50 mod points came through funny mods. Bloddy Malcontent...

  9. If you insist! by Brian+Kendig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple Announces Next Version of Mac OS X

    New Version 10.2 To Be Available For Macintosh And Pentium 4 Computers

    CUPERTINO, California--April 1, 2002-Apple® today announced Mac® OS X version
    10.2, the second major upgrade to Apple's UNIX-based operating system. Mac
    OS X v10.2 will deliver significant performance improvements and new
    features and will add support for Intel® Pentium® 4 computers. Mac OS X
    v10.2 will be available at the Macworld Expo San Francisco during the week
    of July 15, 2002.

    Mac OS X v10.2 is the ultimate digital hub, with the ability to create a
    music library and burn music CDs with iTunes, burn data CDs from the Finder,
    make movies with iMovie(TM) 2, watch DVDs with the DVD Player and create DVDs
    with iDVD.

    Throughout the operating system, Apple has ensured that Mac OS X v10.2 fully
    leverages its UNIX-based design, significantly increases performance and
    provides new features. The groundwork for Pentium 4 compatibility was laid
    two years ago when Darwin, the core of Mac OS X, was made available for
    PowerPC and Intel platforms under an open development model. Since then,
    Darwin customers and developers have helped make it a powerful and efficient
    operating system. Because Mac OS X v10.2 is identical on Macintosh and
    Pentium 4 computers, applications written for one can be made to run on both
    with little or no additional development effort.

    "With this new version of Mac OS X, Apple brings the most advanced operating
    system on the market to computers using Intel Pentium 4 processors," said
    Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Mac OS X v10.2 includes the Aqua(TM) interface and
    allows users of Intel-based computers to experience the performance and the
    ease of use which Macintosh users have enjoyed for years."

    Availability & Requirements
    Mac OS X v10.2 will ship this July and will be available as a full retail
    package through The Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores
    and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129
    (US). Mac OS X v10.2 will be available for current Mac OS X users as an
    upgrade package through Apple's Mac OS Up-to-Date program for $19.95 (US).

    Using Mac OS X on a Macintosh computer requires a minimum of 128MB of memory
    and is designed to run on the following Apple products: iMac(TM), iBook(TM), Power
    Macintosh® G3, Power Mac(TM) G4, Power Mac G4 Cube and any PowerBook introduced
    after May 1998. Using Mac OS X on an Intel Pentium 4 computer requires a
    minimum of 128MB of memory. Refer to http://www.apple.com/macosx for a
    complete list of hardware compatibility.

    Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple
    II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the
    Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing
    experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers
    around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet
    offerings.

    Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Apple Store, Aqua, iBook,
    iMac, iMovie, Power Macintosh, Power Mac and PowerBook are trademarks of
    Apple Computer, Inc. Intel and Pentium are trademarks of Intel
    Corporation. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their
    respective owners.


  10. Re:Geez... by ocelotbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's always been a stretch. The trick to any good AFJ is to come up with a good, yet outlandish, prank, and a delivery so brilliant and so believable that people fall for it, such as the infamous write only memory ad.

    --

    Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses