I learned this one from the Macworld Podcast, “OS X Hints at Expo.” As you probably know, you can switch between open tasks by hitting CMD+Tab. Did you know you also had full control over hiding and quitting apps from this interface as well?

CMD+Tab repeatedly to select an application in the switcher. Then simply reach over and hit either H or Q to hide or quit, respectively, the highlighted app. That’s it.

Power tip: Use in conjunction with your mouse to instantly select an application icon in the switcher without having to hit CMD+Tab repeatedly.

This is very, very helpful in two situations I encounter daily:

1) Hiding Dreamweaver. I have Dreamweaver spread out over three monitors, and it often blocks my access to other background applications or the finder when Dreamweaver is, itself, in the background. Using this tip, I hit CMD+Tab, select the Dreamweaver icon in the switcher, and hit H. This instantly hides Dreamweaver without having to activate it which, being a Rosetta app, takes some time. Of course, this would work with any app.

2) Quitting a bunch of apps quickly. Sure, you could right click (or CTRL+click) each app in the dock, but since my dock is hidden most of the time, this can be time consuming and tedious. Using this tip, I’m able to quit my apps BAM, BAM, BAM.

The following is a list of features I hope are in the next version of OS X. Most are nits that I’ve picked, but they’d go a long way towards improving the user experience. To be fair, these may very well be in Leopard, but I’ve yet to lay eyes on the new OS. Fingers crossed. Here goes…

1. Number one with a bullet: syncing between computers is a must have for anyone who uses both a laptop and a desktop. Being able to replicate application environments (e.g. Mail, iCal, and Address Book) is a must-have.
2. When navigating through folders, to have the ability to open a folder in a new window (in Windows, CTRL+clicking the Parent Folder icon does this)
3. When CMD+TABbing back to an app, focus on the previously focused window rather than the main app. For instance, when composing a new message in Mail.app, switching away, and switching back, your mail message is always buried underneath the main app; it should just be front and center by default.
4. Gather Windows to bring all windows back to the primary desktop. This is helpful mostly in a situation where you are VNCing into a remote desktop with multiple montiors. That app you need right at that moment always
5. Borrow the idea of the Drop Stack from Cocoatech’s excellent app, Path Finder. While you’re at it, borrow the breadcrumbs, tabbed interface, and search integration, too.

Quicksilver is an amazingly handy tool that sits on top of the Finder and vastly increases the speed with which you can launch apps. At its most basic, you type the first few letters of an app or file and hit enter. That’s it.

But the program is deceivingly simple. Once Quicksilver finds the app you’re looking for, you hit tab and can perform any number of app-specific tasks. For instance, type the name of a contact and Compose an Email instead of simply opening the contact in Address Book. Type iTunes and control the app completely with a few keystrokes.

Simply put, the app must be experienced to be fully appreciated. In a word, this tool is sublime, and now have a difficult time operating a Mac without it.

Links:

• Blacktree site
• Quicksilver download
• Wikipedia article

Spambots suck. grrrr.

I’m getting innundated with fake registrations and spam comments despite having the proper settings on the WordPress backend.

For the interim, I’m turning all comments off. If you’re interested in commenting, please feel free to email me directly at steve at stringer sites dot com.

Starting in June, AOL will charge a fee to guarantee that emails sent to users in their system will wind up in the recipient’s Inbox. This is accomplished through a participation in a third-party program called Goodmail that certifies you as a “good” sender and allows you to bypass AOL’s spam-prevention filters. Yahoo! is expected to follow down the same path soon.

If I am reading the tea leaves correctly, e-mails from companies not participating in the Goodmail program will be shunted to the Junk folder. It is unclear if a user can ‘whitelist’ a sender to receive legitimate, solicited e-mail such as purchase receipts or a newsletter.

While I understand the need to address the problem of spam, my take on this is that this is a form of corporate extortion that will wreak havoc on the system. And AOL users will bear the brunt of the inexorable friction between legitimate companies and spammers.

On the business side, few companies outside the Fortune 500 will participate. Expect to see a flurry of emails from small and mid-sized companies to AOL subscribers reiterating the need to whitelist them.

In addition, AOL customers will see an increased number of legitimate e-mails ending up in the junk mail box. There will be a shake-out and public outcry as AOL users start missing legitimate and critical communications. The system will become unusable and AOL will move onto the Next Big Thing.

All around, all concerned will get mad, and at the end of the day, spammers will just find another way around the problem. And AOL, Yahoo! and Goodmail will make millions in the process. They always do.

Go Deep:
http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3581301

http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3559441

http://www.goodmailsystems.com/

AOL E-Mail Best Practices for Corporate Senders:
http://postmaster.aol.com/guidelines/bestprac.html

Trying to remove that annoying Windows Messenger icon from your Windows XP System Tray? Simply uninstalling the program from Add and Remove Programs does not work. You have to go further.

Thanks to a script I found over at HelpWithWindows.com, this is easy. First, make sure you exit any running instances of Windows Messenger. Then, go Start > Run… and enter the following:

That’s it!