Instead of buying expensive vector drawing software, Keynote can be used as a simple but great vector drawing tool. The problem is you can only export entire slides as images from the File menu and there will be a white background. There is no obvious way of exporting just the vector art to an image file. Fortunately there is a solution. Use the following method to extract just your vector art creation to a .png file with alpha transparency.
Create a vector-based drawing.
Drag and select the entire vector drawing you are going to export.
Choose Edit

OS X and Growl notifications are AppleScriptable and great for displaying user-defined text, but not so hot for user-defined images. OS X can only display the sending application’s icon, and Growl no longer accepts raw iTunes artwork image data or regular image files.

Growl’s iTunes limitation can be overcome by converting an iTunes track’s raw artwork image data into a TIFF file that can be read and passed to Growl:

tell application “iTunes” to set _rawData to raw data of artwork 1 of current track

set _startupDisk to (path to startup disk as text)

set _tempTiffFile to (open for access file (_star …

Source: Mac OSX Hints

Unlike with the Mac, in iOS there is no way to select text and search for it on Google in a new tab. There is, however, a workaround that brings about the same result on iOS.

Select text in Safari to bring up the context menu on iOS and then tap on Define. This brings up the dictionary panel for the selected text. If you’ve selected a word that is not in the dictionary, or multiple words or usually even if the word is in the dictionary, on the bottom right there is Search Web. Tapping that opens a new tab and searches for the selected text. This is equivalent to selecting text, copying, opening new tab, pasting the text in omnibar.

Things to note:
Even though the hint mentions Google, this uses the default search engine set in the Safari preferences so your preference is respected.
This is not specific to Safari. Any app that allows selection of text, and brings up the contextual menu will work with this by opening Safari. …

Source: Mac OSX Hints

This procedure shows you how to prevent Time Machine from using all available free space on a local volume by backing up to a sparse disk image bundle stored on a shared folder on a local volume.

Time machine uses a feature of the HFS+ filesystem that was introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) called ‘directory hard links.’ Like file hard links, a directory that is hard linked to another directory is not actually a distinct directory, but is instead a pointer to the original directory. Time Machine uses these directory hard links to reduce duplication and save space by making references to entire directory trees whose contained files have not been modified.
To properly copy or duplicate a Time Machine backup, these directory hard links must be preserved. Unfortunately, directory hard links are proprietary to Apple. Apple discourages their casual use by third party developers because, if used incorrectly, they could create recursive directory structures that would ren …

Source: Mac OSX Hints

Here is a way to disable sleeping when pressing the power button on 10.9.2. In Terminal, type in the following command and then press Enter.
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow PowerButtonSleepsSystem -bool no

This causes the ‘Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?’ dialog to come up much quicker too.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. I had to log out and log back in; I’m not sure if that’s necessary.]

Source: Mac OSX Hints

By roman The convenience of wireless networking is fantastic, but it doesn’t compare to the solidity and dependability of a wired network connection. Where can you find out if your Ethernet connection is running at 10, 100, or 1000 Mbit/s? It is … →

Source: MacTip.net

The Secure Notes feature in Keychain Access now allows syncing of notes across multiple Macs using iCloud Keychain.

To add a note to be synchronized across all of your configured Macs, select the iCloud keychain from the list and select File

In OS X 10.9 Mavericks a smart folder (or a saved search) dragged to the Dock behaves like a folder (smart folders by default are saved under ~/Library/Saved Searches). Right click gives sorting, display and viewing options similar to ordinary folders dragged to the Dock. A drawer icon is shown if Display as Folder option is selected. In grid view Quick Look works, too.

I did not check if it works under 10.8 or 10.7. I have to mention that there was already a hint about how to add ‘recent things’ stack to the Dock.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described.]

Source: Mac OSX Hints

I’m not sure if this is documented already. When you create a secure note from Keychain, it will accept an image or movie just as easily as it will accept text. I was able to put an image in one note and a movie in another. You can also play the movie while it’s secured inside the note.

Create a secure note from the menu bar, then copy and paste the image into the note. That’s it, the image is saved inside a secure note. You’re done.

To put a movie inside a secure note, go to the file location on the Finder to locate the movie. Drag the movie to the body of the secure note.

[crarko adds: I’m not sure if it’s documented either. This is a fairly old submission in the queue, so things may have changed recently.]

Source: Mac OSX Hints

As satisfying as the swipe to close feature in mobile Safari is, it becomes a bit of a chore to close more than a few tabs.

To close all tabs at once, tap the new tab icon (two overlapping squares), tap Private, and then Close All. Repeat the first two steps and tap ‘+’ (or the screen) to get back to an empty Safari in your preferred browsing state.

I only have an iOS 7 device to test this in.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. I also only have iOS 7.]

Source: Mac OSX Hints