I have a friend who is getting into OS X for the first time after being a lifetime poweruser in Windows. He has a number of valid complaints, and I wonder what the official OS X fanboy answers are. [ Note: I’m an OS X fanboy. ] Basically, the problem is that for an operating system that is…
Switch Between OS X Dialog Buttons From Keyboard
To switch between dialog options in OS X from the keyboard, use the TAB key. ::
Mac vs. PC Security In One Sentence
If you follow Information Security at all or have been part of a PC vs. Mac discussion at any level, you’ve probably come across the timeless question of: What’s more secure, Mac or PC? Well, there’s an analogy from renowned security researcher Charlie Miller that elegantly captures the answer in a single sentence: Mac OS X is like…
OS X: Manipulating the Clipboard via Command Line
So I somehow just found out that you can manipulate OS X’s clipboard via command line. The utility that does it is called pbcopy (and pbpaste). [bash]echo “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” | pbcopy[/bash] Now, go into any OS X application and perform the paste (⌘-v) command and you’ll have the content you placed there via command line.…
How to Manage a Cisco Device via Console Using a USB Port in OS X
Problem: you need to manage a Cisco device via console, but the only box you have available is your non-macpro-mac, i.e. you don’t have a console port available. Solution: manage it via USB. Step 1: Procure a USB to Console Cable It should look something like this. You can get them most anywhere. Step 2: Download and Install…
Controlling OS X Network Connections Using Little Snitch
Being in Information Security, I understand that knowing what’s going on is the first step to being secure. The way this translates to networked computers is knowing who they’re talking to. And for this task I use Little Snitch to both monitor and control what applications are able to reach out from my OS X system. In addition…
How to Type Apple/Mac Characters
[ For OS X Users… ] First, enable US, US Extended, and Unicode Hex Input through the Input Menu tab of the International pane within System Preferences: Now you can just hold down the ⌥ key from within any text-entry field and type the 4-character unicode designations for the following characters: ⇧ – 21E7 ⌥ – 2325 ⌘…
Keeping Your Screenshots Organized in OS X
When you create a screenshot (or “screen capture”) in OS X it’s dropped onto the desktop as a PNG file with name of “Picture 1.png”. And the next one you create drops “Picture 2.png”, etc. This is cool, but it gets annoying over time–especially if you make a lot of them. The problem is that you can’t just…
How to Add Directory Colors to OS X’s Terminal
It’s kind of annoying that ls –color doesn’t work in OS X. Fortunately you can get the same effect by adding the following to your .bash_profile : export CLICOLOR=true Edit: Evidently you can do this with the -G switch to ls as well. Thanks for the tip, Joel.
How to Flush Your DNS in OS X Leopard
dscacheutil -flushcache
A Response to “Mac Elitism and Snobbery”
A fellow security blogger, Michael Farnum, has posted a piece that I felt compelled to respond to. In the post he essentially complains that most of the pro-pc/anti-mac commentary he reads at Computerworld get modded down, while the pro-mac/anti-pc stuff he sees usually gets modded up. He goes on to write: So if you own a Mac and…
OS X: The Keyboard Shortcut for “Don’t Save”
If you’re an efficiency/productivity nut like I am you are probably also obsessed with keyboard shortcuts. One of the main ones for me is the ability to close documents in OS X without saving them. So, given the dialog above, how do you select “Don’t Save” without using your mouse? You can’t use the arrow keys, and you…
8 Powerful Features of Safari That Few People Know About
Safari is an excellent browser for many reasons; its speed, clean aesthetics and ease of use are attractive from the outset. In addition to these obvious strengths there are a few extremely attractive features of Safari that most are unaware of. Browsing and Search Snapback URL Path Navigation Web Inspector Activity Window Inline Dictionary Selection to Speech Quick…
New OS X “Trojan” In the Wild
A new “trojan” has been identified by Intego that enables phishing attacks to take place against Mac users. But before you get too worried, let’s take a look at how it works. Go to a malicious site. Get prompted to install software. Choose to install it. Put in your admin password when it asks for it. Get pwned.…
What Does OS X Say When You Ask it to Pronounce Itself?
In the tech world it’s easy to find debates about how to pronounce things. One of those things is OS X. Most people either say “Oh Es Ex” or “Oh Es Ten“. So which is it? As it turns out, it’s not a matter of preference like most claim — that is unless you simply prefer to pronounce…
Better Quicksearches with QuickSilver
Like many out there I’m rather obsessed with doing things the best way possible. Up until yesterday I was using browser-based quick searches to perform quick Internet searches. But there’s a better way. QuickSilver (sorry, OS X only) allows us to get the same quick search functionality, but from anywhere. So if you’re working on some code in…
The Real Reason Apple is So Popular Right Now
I was in CompUSA the the other day and noticed quite a few people in the Apple section. I realized that this was becoming increasingly common everywhere I went. Indeed, much Apple love these days. But why now? I mentioned to an employee in the PC section that Apple interest seemed to be getting stronger overall, and asked…
DMIESSLER.COM: 2006 Platform Statistics
The following is a chart of the top ten operating systems used to view my site in 2006. As you can see, Linux and OS X are doing well, but not as nearly as well as Firefox is doing against Internet Explorer.
Leopard Instead of Vista: Three Reasons Why Your Next Computer Should Be A Mac
With the new release of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, many are considering their upgrade path. Is it time for a new PC? Should I wait for Vista? What’s this Mac stuff all about? In this article I’m going to put forth a very simple argument, which essentially boils down to this: For anyone wanting to perform basic computer…
My Letter To A Linux Desktop User
I know you don’t believe me, as we’ve had this conversation before. But there will come a time in your life when you will grow tired of fixing your tools. This will likely lead you to Windows or OS X — both of which, if you avoid tweaking, offer much more stability through updates and patches than Linux…
OS X vs. Windows Security: Discovered vs. Undiscovered Vulnerabilities
With Apple OS X’s surging popularity many are wondering how vulnerable Apple’s OS X operating system is relative to Windows. You essentially have two sides — one saying that it’s inherently more secure (and hence less successfully attacked), and the other side saying that it’s only because of marketshare that fewer issues have surfaced. A Model I think…
Security: How To Monitor Your Network Connections
One of the most important concepts in computer security is “knowing thy system”. This essentially means that in order to be able to protect something you need to have some idea of what it’s doing and/or how it works. Your computer’s connections to the outside world is among the most important information you can have about your system.…
The Truth About OS X Security
Many are debating the question of how vulnerable Apple’s OS X operating system is relative to Windows. You essentially have two sides — one saying that it’s inherently more secure (and hence less successfully attacked), and the other side saying that it’s only because of marketshare that there haven’t been more issues. A Model Well, I think I…
OS X vs. Windows: One Observation
Something struck me the other day that I think most power-users with experience on both Windows and OS X would agree with. Windows gets better as you tweak the hell out of it. Power-users on that OS invariably add this skin, this mod, that hack, etc. On OS X, however, following that same paradigm does little more than…