Category Archives: Mac

Solved: Mac option key not working on Nixeus MODA Pro keyboard

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There are plenty of articles and Youtube videos showing how to switch the Option and Command keys when you adapt a PC keyboard for use on the Mac.  (System Prefs – Keyboard – Modifier Keys – Choose the correct keyboard, then switch Command and Option).

But even after doing that, the Options key wouldn’t work.  I finally noticed the “Win Lk” light at the top right.  Gaming keyboards let you turn off the Windows key in case you accidentally hit it during a game, and that’s the key that is now mapped to Option for my Mac.

Turning if off just requires holding Fn and pressing F8, which also has a “no Windows” symbol.

Solved: How to Map a Drive from Windows 10 to OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite Server

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local-security-policyWe have an increasing number of Windows 10 machines in our office, and realized that we couldn’t get them to connect to shares on our OS X 10.10.5 (Yosemite) server.  We have a bunch of Local Network Users, and had no problem connecting as them from Windows 7 machines.  But Windows 10 machines would just pop up the authentication dialog again with the message “The specified network password is not correct”.

I tried all of the Local Security Policy changes that people have mentioned on the ‘net, and nothing worked.  I finally came across somebody mentioning that you have to put the server NetBIOS Name in ALL CAPS when you authenticate.  So, in our case, we needed to make one Local Security Policy change on the Windows 10 clients and put the server name in all caps when authenticating.

Details below:
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Where did all the space go on my Mac hard drive?

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Before I switched to a Mac, WinDirStat was my favorite tool for figuring out what was taking up space on my hard drive(s).

There doesn’t seem to be a great free alternative on OS X, but it’s been totally worth it to spend $12.99 on WhatSizeMac (also available on the Mac App Store).

When you first run it, you get a list of your drives.  Click on the one you want to analyze, and it will start spinning…

whatsizeWhen it’s done, you’ll be in a folder-browsing interface that lets you drill down and find the files and folders that are taking up the most space.  This has helped me clear out a lot of unneeded files from my hard drive (video footage that I didn’t need anymore mostly).

Check it out!

whatsize2

PureText: Paste Plain Text!

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The utility that I’ve needed for years and finally looked for: PureText.

So many times I copy text from a web page or other document and need to paste it into an application that doesn’t offer the “Paste Special” option. I just want the text, not the formatting.

PureText lets you create a shortcut key (Windows-V by default) that will paste just the plain text from the clipboard.

Update (12/4/2012):
Now that I’m using a Mac most of the time, I use “Plain Clip” every day. I just copy some text, click once on the Applications stack in the dock, then type “plai” and hit enter to clear the formatting out of the clipboard. I’m sure there’s a quicker way, but that’s my habit now.