Speed Up an Old Mac with These Tricks [Mac OS X]

by James Bruce

Given time, the performance of any computer will tend to degrade – even Macs (gasp!). Years of improperly un-installing applications can leave your drive littered with preference files and resources that are no longer needed. A small drive can quickly fill up with photos or music, causing everything else to come crashing to a halt. Or perhaps your Mac is just old and can’t quite handle the latest software or OS updates – but with a little performance boost, it’d be good to go for another year at least!

Whatever the reason, if your Mac isn’t in tip-top condition, here’s a few things you can do to speed up that old Mac again.

Disable window animations and Mail animations

We all love Macs for their visually stunning desktop – and who hasn’tdone the old hold down shift to slow the animation down trick and show off to friends – but really, do you need those animations? Enter the following Terminal commands to disable all window and Mail animations (change true to false or vice-versa to re-enable them).

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEna bled -bool false
defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableSendAnimations -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableReplyAnimations -bool true

You’ll need to log out and in again for these to take effect. If you’d not touch the scary Terminal command line, use Mountain Tweaks to make the changes instead.

Get rid of Dashboard

I suspect there’s only a handful of people who even use the ancient Dashboard widgets anymore – like Vista gadgets, the Dashboard widgets need to be resigned to history. Until that day though, you can kill your Dashboard with the following Terminal commands:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
killall Dock

Remove login items and tray applications

If your system tray is starting to look a bit bloated and you have apps you there you no longer use, remove them from your system completely with the free AppCleaner or AppTrap. Use these to clear up other Applications you no longer need and save drive space, even if they’re not in the tray.

For login items (apps and services that automatically open at login) head over to System Preferences -> Users and Groups -> Login items. This will only apply to a fresh login though and by defaul, Mountain Lion is going to keep open any apps that were open when you shut down. Hold Shift when logging in to disable thi s auto-resume feature.

Make sure you have 5-10% free space

Virtual memory, caches etc are all stored on your hard drive. If you’re running low on space, this can cause serious slow downs as the OS tries to delicately move around and manage the remaining space. If you’ve completely filled your drive, there’s a chance it might not even boot again.

So to avoid this keep about 10% of your drive free at all times to ensure the remaining space can be used effectively as needed by the OS. If your iTunes or iPhoto libraries are adding up, consider moving them to an external or NAS drive.

For the absolute best performance, only ever use 50% of your driveand consider partitioning off the rest as a backup. This ensures everything is written to the fastest part of the drive, the latter half is slower.

If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what’s taking up all that room, download Disk Inventory X (free) for an easy to understand breakdown of file types and folders using the most space.

Defragment your drive

Unlike Windows, OS X uses very efficient ways of writing smaller files to a disk in one large block rather than all over the place, so the need for defragging at all is significantly reduced. However, if your Mac has gone through several OS upgrades over a good few years and seen apps come and go on a regular basis, there’s a chance you could benefit from defragging. The process can be performed without expensive third-party defrag utilities, but is risky if you’re not 100% sure what you’re doing.

Note: If you have an SSD, defragging is not necessary at all.

Reformat and perform a clean install

As with any version of Windows, I’ve grown accustomed to nuking the whole machine and just re-installing from scratch at least every 6 months, yet I’ve never quite felt the need to do this on my Mac. After a few years though, and especially on particularly old Macs that have been through numerous updates, a completely fresh install will do wonders for performance. Just be sure to backup what you need on external drives, and be prepared to spend the time re-installing apps you genuinely need. Don’t just re-import everything from a backup, or you’ll end up right back in the same position again.

Clean up your desktop

OSX renders every little icon on your desktop as it’s own window with its own preview image, all eating away at your memory. Put those files and folders into their proper storage space and stop using your desktop as a temporary dumping ground. If you’re too lazy to do this, use Clean, a free utility avaiable in the app store which takes all your files daily or weekly and dumps them somewhere else instead.

Check what’s using all your memory

It could be one particular app that running away with your system resources, but you won’t know unless you check out the Activity Monitor (under Applications > Utilities).

Rebuild Font Cache

Inatalling and removing fonts can corrupt a font cache, causing it to become slow over time. Rebuild the cache with the following terminal command.

atsutil databases -remove

Add a Quit Finder menu item

Finder is a common cause of the “spinning beach ball of death”, yet there’s no apparent way to quit or restart the Finder “app”. Enter the following commands to enable a new menu option, and reboot Finder.

defaults write com.apple.finder
QuitMenuItem -bool YES killall Finder

Repair disk errors

Power outages can cause disk errors or corrupt caches and permissions; this is one cause of random slowdown and beach balls, but they could also be indicative of a failing drive. Either way, you can check the drive and repair permissions using the built in Disk Utility. Be sure to run both Repair Permission and Verify Disk (then Repair Disk).

Onyx is a free app that will clear caches, rebuild the fonts, and do a lot more besides. Be sure to download the right version for your OS X.

Prepare for the worst

It is possible your system slowdown is due to a failing disk: Disk Utilitymay be unable to fix the problems, or you may hear st range sounds as well as occasional lock ups. If this is the case, backup what you can immediately (using at least two or three Mac backup methods outlined here). Get your Mac to a repair centre, and while you’re at it, consider…

Switching To An SSD

SSDs are incredibly fast – but much more expensive on a per-GB basis compared to regular hard drives. If you’re happy to replace your DVD drive you can get the best of both worlds: an SSD to hold system files and apps, with a second regular drive to hold your data. See my article on swapping a DVD drive for an SSD in an old Macbook Pro, but only try this if your machine is well and truly out of warranty.

Use Chrome or Safari, slim down extensions

Chrome and Safari are the fastest (modern) browsers on OS X, fact. But even then, the number of tabs and extensions you have installed can seriously slow your machine down. Consider using Chrome’s user-switching feature to separate tasks you perform, such as a different user for research: you can close down that user and restore as needed, rather than keeping everything open all the time.

Actually quit applications

As a recovering Windows user, I’m quite guilty of this: leaving applications running even when you’re not using them. Use CMD-Q to actually quit an application once you’re done with it – don’t just close the active window with CMD-W or the red X.

And finally… one MYTH

You may find some articles that advise you run the built -in maintenance scripts if your machine is powered off between 3am and 5am every day when they would normally run automatically. However, the latest versions of OS X no longer work in the same way as the BSD systems that OS X is based on, and instead run maintenance during login and other times. This means you can safely power off the whole night and not worry. Running those maintenance scripts manually isn’t dangerous in any way, it’s just a complete waste of time.

I think that’s a pretty comprehensive list, and my 2009 iMac is running quite snappily again even without a full re-install. Do you have any more tips? Add them in the comments so we can all get back to work and be slightly more productive.

Source: www.makeuseof.com

Mystery of Gardening

Google Glass Video Shows How It Works

If you're in the majority, chances are you haven't gotten your hands on Google Glass just yet. And even if you've peered through the high-tech specs before, you might be in need of a tutorial.

Now, Google has released a video explaining how to get started with Glass, a touch-sensitive device heralded as the future of mobile.

Here's a deeper look at how it works: By swiping the frames' "touchpad" — which runs from your temple to your ear — you can change settings and access new features. To turn it on, all the touchpad needs is a simple touch. The display positioned above the user's line of sight can be adjusted manually, similar to a rear-view mirror in a car.



The display appears to be floating a few inches in front of the eye. The first thing you will see is a clock with the time, which is the first "card" in your timeline. Other cards, which can be swiped to accessed, include the weather, your calendar and so on. Tapping on a specific card will open it up with more details, such as flight information.

The sequence of the cards plays a role as well. Cards from the right of the home screen are from the past, such as messages, videos or photos, while cards to the left are for upcoming events. You can also click on photos to share with one of your friends — contacts populate within the display, so clicking on the person you want will create an email message addressed to that person.

Meanwhile, swiping your finger downward on the touchpad will bring the display to standby.

Source: http://www.filmy18.com/google-glass-video-shows-how-works-t12694.html

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Resume Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making

by Angela Smith

You know all about getting your resume noticed. (Clean layout! Accomplishments, not duties!) But do you know what’s on the flipside? What you might be doing that could cause recruiters to overlook your resume—or worse, toss it in the trash?

Gasp! The trash? I know what you’re thinking, but the truth is, recruiters have dozens, even hundreds, of resumes to comb through every day. So, in an effort to cull them down to a reasonable amount, they’ll simply toss any that don’t meet what they’re looking for.

To learn more, I sat down with a few recruiters and asked them about the resumes that make the cut and those that get tossed. Here are three of their deal-breakers.

1. You Don’t Meet the Basic Requirements

First and foremost, review the requirements listed in the job description and confirm that you have the skills and experience the recruiter is looking for. This is the “first knockout factor” for many, says Christina Lord, a technical recruiter at Dealer.com. “Make sure you look at the requirements before applying to the job, and identify if your skills are a match,” she says.

Sounds basic, but job seekers make this mistake more often than you might think, thanks to career counselors and advice websites that say to go ahead and apply for a job even without all of the qualifications. And while you shouldn’t be afraid to aim high, no amount of resume tailoringwill cover for the fact that you only have three years of management experience, not 10, or don’t have the technical skills required to do the job. “Resumes just won’t be considered if the basic skills aren’t there,” agrees Joanna Thomas, a human resources professional at an agency in Burlington, VT.

A similar mistake: You have the basic requirements, but they’re obscured by extra or unnecessary information. “Lay it out simply for me—that means less investigation I’ll have to do,” says Thomas. For example, if you’re applying for a position in marketing, but your experience is a combination of marketing and sales, tailor your resume to focus on your marketing experience and skills, and minimize—or even remove—the sales information.

2. You’re Not a Culture Fit

It’s of utmost importance to recruiters to find a candidate who’s a “cultural fit as well as a skill set fit,” according to Thomas. They love when a candidate “gets it”—and they’ll toss your resume if you look like “just someone looking for a job.” (Think summary statements that cover a wide range of skills and industries, or cover letters that don’t mention the company by name—or at all.)

To avoid the circular file, you’ll want to tweak your resume based on the position and company, making deliberate connections of how your experience, skills, and personality are a perfect fit for the job. Use industry terms, spell out accomplishments that you know will make an impact, and don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. Thomas remembers an applicant who listed, “I’ll drink an iced Americano any time, day or night” under the interests section, which not only revealed the applicant’s “personality and sense of humor,” it was a great fit for Thomas’ agency, a highly creative design firm with its own specialty coffee shop in the basement.

3. You Don’t Pay Attention to Detail

When it comes to your resume, the devil is quite often in the details. Recruiters get annoyed by small things that you may not think of—like whether or not the text on your cover letter and resume is the same font and size (it should be), if your margins are off (makes it tricky for us to print), or to whom you’ve addressed the cover letter (it should be the recruiter’s name, not “sir,” “madam,” or “to whom it may concern”).

They’ll also take note if you don’t include everything the job posting asks you to send. A cover letter and resume? What about work or writing samples? Be sure to include everything that’s asked of you. Also, does the job posting refer to the position as Project Manager II? If so, state that in your cover letter, exactly—don’t write Proj. Mgr. or Project Manager. Companies put a lot of time into determining job titles, and when a recruiter is looking to fill both the Project Manager and the Project Manager II positions, any ambiguousness from you will make it harder for them.

And, it should go without saying, but “one spelling error and I’m out,” says Thomas. Proofreading your own resume is a must, but don’t rely on spell check and grammar check alone—ask family or friends to take a look at it for you. Lord recommends that you “always, always have several eyes look at your resume.”

Applying for a job can often feel like a huge challenge, and knowing that there are so many applicants out there can be daunting. But if you follow these simple rules, you’ll make sure your resume gets past the first hurdle: the trash can. Better yet, if you tailor your resume and make sure it’s a fit to the company and job, you’ll definitely increase your chances of getting to the top of the pile.

What is the Last Mathematics Logical Answer? (Puzzle)

Think for at least a minute before looking
at the answer. 



Scroll Down for Solution

SOLUTION:

61

Explanation:

2(2X3)+1 = 13

2(3X4)+1 = 25

2(4X5)+1 = 41


Therefore,


2(5x6)+1 = 61

  

THE MOST....

The Most Selfish " 1 " letter word.

" I " ---> Avoid It

The Most Satisfying " 2 " letter words.

" We " ---> Use It..

The Most Poisonous " 3 " letter word.

" Ego" ---> Kill It..

The Most Used " 4 " letter word.

" LOVE " --> Value It.

The Pleasing " 5 " letter words.

" SMILE " -->Keep It.

The Fastest Spreading " 6 " letter word.

" RUMOUR " --> Ignore it..

The Hardest working " 7 " Letter Word.

"SUCCESS " --> Achieve it..

The Most enviable " 8 " letter word.

" JEALOUSY " --> distance It..

The Most Powerful " 9 " word letter word.

" KNOWLEDGE " --> Acquire It.

The Most essential " 10 " letter word

   " CONFIDENCE " -- > "Trust It.

Important Health Care Notes

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS 

1. No Breakfast People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration. 
2 . OvereatingIt causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power. 
3. Smoking It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease. 
4. High Sugar consumption Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development. 
5. Air Pollution The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our 20 body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency. 
6 . Sleep Deprivation Sleep allows our brain to rest.. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.. 
7. Head covered while sleeping Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain. 
9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage. 
10. Talking Rarely Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain 
The main causes of liver damage are: 

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.

2. Not urinating in the morning.

3 . Too much eating.

4. Skipping breakfast.

5. Consuming too much medication.

6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.

7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit. 
8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

We should prevent this without necessarily spending more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and time condition are very important for our bodies to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to 'schedule.' 
The top five cancer-causing foods are: 
1.. Hot Dogs 

Because they are high in nitrates, the Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium nitrate. 

2. Processed meats and Bacon 


Also high in the same sodium nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat in bacon also contributes to cancer. 
3. Doughnuts 

Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer. 
4. French fries 

Like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl amides which occur during the frying process. They should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said Adams . 
5. Chips, crackers, and cookies 


All are usually made with white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small amounts of trans-fats. 
Johns Hopkins Update – Very Good Article 
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY
IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER,
JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body . These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies . These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors .

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7.. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of
chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor
destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other
sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made
with Aspartame and it is harmful . A better natural substitute
would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt .

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus . By cutting
off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer
cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat,
like chicken. Meat also contains livestock
antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all
harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment . About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including be an sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate , which have high
caffeine Green tea is a better alternative e and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic
buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit .
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy
life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily , and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen
therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro . 
2. No water bottles in freezer . 
3. No plastic wrap in microwave .. 
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.
Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto,
Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.
He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.
This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and
ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass,
Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper
The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Please share this with your whole email list.........................

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran , is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave.
As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead. 
This is an article that should be shared with anyone important in your life.