MacMost: Patreon Video

Saw a post about someone who was trying to figure out how to do a "complex" file rename. But it turns out it was simple, just using the Finder.

Here's an improvement to a one-line script I talked about a while back. This new script will prompt you to choose one of the running apps, and then one of the windows of that app. Then it will resize and position that window. I use this to resize windows perfectly before doing tutorials. You could do the same, or maybe you have another reason to want to tame your windows. I suppose you could expand the script more with variations on the position and size that you could choose from a list. Here is the code: var app = Application.currentApplication(); app.includeStandardAdditions = true; var system = Application("System Events"); var appList = Application("System Events").applicationProcesses.whose({ visible: true}).name(); var whichAppName = app.chooseFromList(appList, {withPrompt: "Select App:", defaultItems: ["Safari"]}); var whichApp = Application(whichAppName[0]); var windowList = whichApp.windows.name(); var whichWindowName = app.chooseFromList(windowList, {withPrompt: "Select Window:", defaultItems: windowList[0]}); if (whichWindowName != false) {     whichApp.windows[whichWindowName[0]].bounds = {"x":0, "y":0, "width":1280, "height":697}; }

I was looking for a new text editor to use to write code. I found the CodeRunner app, which not only lets you write code, but you can also run code. I feel like I'm on an Apple II again, where you could just write BASIC code and run it without compiling or uploading to a server. This is a great way to learn a programming language, test code, or get some work done with coding.

I tried one of the third-party printing services to get my 2019 calendar printed. Mimeo was the only one that seemed to work well, after a few false starts with other extensions. It looks like they have a ton of options and you can get very detailed by customizing each page. I'm pleased with the final product. Take a look.

I'm been playing around with JavaScript bookmarks, thinking there is a MacMost video in there somewhere. I need to come up with a better example, though. And I'm not sure it works smoothly enough.Oh, and as a bonus, you get to see what happens when I wear black and try to film a tutorial. Floating head! And here's the code I use in the example: topic=prompt("Enter a Topic");window.location="<a href="https://www.imdb.com/find?ref_=nv_sr_fn&amp;s=all&amp;q=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/find?ref_=nv_sr_fn&amp;s=all&amp;q=</a>"+topic

Did you know about the Grapher app that comes with your Mac? Well, even if you did, did you know it can animate graphs? And you can export them as videos?

Here's a handy little app that adds a quick way to switch between light and dark mode in Mojave. And you can schedule it too. Link: <a href="https://nightowl.kramser.xyz" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://nightowl.kramser.xyz</a> 

What do you think of the idea of me occasionally posting MacMost videos early here at Club MacMost? I wouldn't do it all the time. But for instance I just posted a Facebook 3D photo to the MacMost Facebook page as part of building a video on how to do that. I tease in the post that the video is coming soon. It should be posted Tuesday to the site/feed/podcast. But I will post it here so you guys can see it right now. Maybe I'll do this for videos I'm particularly excited about, or have some sort of timeliness aspect.I'm not sure that Patreon liked my video link for this post, so just in case it doesn't work, you can access it here: <a href="https://archive.org/download/1776FaceBook3DPhotos/1776FaceBook3DPhotos.mp4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://archive.org/download/1776FaceBook3DPhotos/1776FaceBook3DPhotos.mp4</a> 

I'm working on a demonstration of creating your own Finder Quick Action. As an example, I want to be able to select a photo file, and then have its location show up on Apple Maps.This is harder than it sounds. But using AppleScript I could get the latitude and longitude, and then using JXA I could manipulate the text a bit to make a URL. Then I could use that URL to open Apple Maps and pinpoint that location. Here are the two scripts in a text file in case you want to play with them.

Lots of people like to have custom folder icons. And there are many ways to make them. Here's a method using Acorn.

This feature puzzles me. I can see using it in Keynote to provide narration on specific slides. The only use in Numbers I can see is maybe explaining how a sheet works to someone who didn't create the spreadsheet. For Pages, I can't see the use. You can't export it in the PDF, so maybe just for annotations?But maybe I'm just not the target audience for this feature. What would you use this for?

Apple added the ability to browse all of their music charts by country. I love this because you can listen to popular music from all around the world and discover new things. You can look at the charts even if you are not using Apple Music.

Apparently Apple gives away a free app in the Apple Store app, not to be confused with the App Store app. The Apple Store app is what you use to buy Macs and shop for accessories. But it also features an iOS app that you can get for free via an automatically-redeemed code in the App Store app.Confusing, I know. But the result is you get a paid app for free. It may be worth checking monthly to see what the offer is. In this case it is the $5 Obscura 2 photo app.

One of the big new features of macOS Mojave is the new Finder Gallery View. But hardly anyone is talking about how Gallery View actually replaces Cover Flow view, which has been around for a long time.Lets look at the two views and compare them. Do you think some people will miss Cover Flow, or will the new features of Gallery View win over everyone?

Putting away my box of power adapters after my trip to Europe. Had to take both the standard European adapters plus special Italian ones. But I probably didn't need the Italian ones at all. There is a lot of misinformation out there about these things.I also travel with a power splitter and a compact extension cord, but I am wary about using them with 220v outside the U.S.

There’s only one Apple museum in the world as far as I can tell, and it is in Prague, right by where I am staying. I visited there today and it is very nice. Here is some raw footage that I hope to edit into a video for the site later on. I've got some more bits too. The audio from me walking around is a bit washed out by the background sound of Stwve Jobs speeches playing throughout the museum. Unlike the many tourist trap museums in Prague, this one is all for charity, apparently. Anyone else been there? I'm glad I didn't notice the no photography sign until I left at the end! Oops.

You can't always take a picture from the vantage point you would like. But with image editing tools like Acorn or Photoshop, you can adjust the perspective of your photo afterward to make it look like you shot the photo straight-on.

My problem was that I had to change the permissions on some files almost every day. The files were created by one admin account on my Mac, but I had to then modify them on another admin account. Instead of Command+i and lots of clicks, I came up with a simpler solution using a script.Here's the code: <blockquote>set pathWithSpaces to "/Users/username/Documents/whatever"</blockquote><blockquote>do shell script "sudo chmod -R 775 "&amp; quoted form of pathWithSpaces with administrator privileges</blockquote>

I'm working on future MacMost episodes since I'll be going on another one of my International journeys soon (I'll be posting pictures!). So an episode scheduled for way out on August 7 takes a look at the Print extensions you can get in the Apple Store that will replace Apple's Photo Printing.I thought that Club MacMost may want to see that video now, rather than waiting for August 7. So here it is. I'll probably spend a few bucks on a variety of printing products over the next few months to see which of these is a decent service. But I also expect more services to appear as probably the presence of Apple as a first-party printing service was keeping other services away.

Just a quick look at Dark Mode. Is this a feature you are looking forward to?