2012-02-13

Mac fun with the Terminal application

Add "Quit Finder" on the Finder menu

This will display pure wallpaper on the desktop.  Got is the annoying (IMHO) Finder that is always running from the time you powered up your awesome MacBook Pro.  Finder will act like an application.  Oh BTW, to shutdown or logoff, press Control + [Eject] to bring up the choices.
defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YES
To kill the Finder:  killall Finder
  • Control-Eject This keyboard shortcut opens the Shutdown dialog. From here, you can choose to shutdown, restart, or put your Mac to sleep.

  • The Mac OS X Shutdown dialog offers sleep and restart options, too.
  • Command-Option-Eject Hold these keys down for a few seconds to put your Mac to sleep without opening a confirmation dialog.
  • Command-Option-Control-Eject This fist full of keys gracefully shuts down your Mac while giving you the option to save any open documents.
  • Power button If your Mac's power button is in easy reach, press it once to open the Shutdown dialog.
Disable Dashboard If you don’t want or like the dashboard running you can disable it. Change YES to NO to enable it again.

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
killall Dock
 How to show all Invisible/System Files on your MacBook Pro.
Remember when you use to click view all hidden files on Window, well this is the equivalent.  Microsoft and Apple just want to protect the system files from being messed around by "users" who have no business messing with them.  Well,  if you are reading my blog, you're not a "user" and wouldn't mind crashing your Mac or PC a few times for academic purposes.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true
To bring it back to normal, replace "true" with "false"
Make your Computer Talk
say (any words here)
Make a Banner with any Words

Click and drag the terminal window to make it bigger to see this trick. Type in banner than it will ask you to put in some words. (keep it short).
Private Terminal Chat Room

Type in emacs than hit enter, than press esc and the x key at the same time. Than type in the word "doctor" and hit enter. 
Invert screen
Another function that not many Mac users know is “Invert screen”. Just press Ctrl-Option-Cmd-8 on your keyboard and see your Mac invert its colours.
 
Ultimately here's more - http://www.danrodney.com/mac/index.html