Have you ever noticed that Microsoft Word on the Mac has a slower text cursor blink rate compared to the rest of the system? I’m not sure why this is but it means that it’s not hard to ‘lose’ the text cursor when editing a document — often I have to stare at the page until the cursor starts blinking again so that I know where it is.

Luckily, this can be fixed easily. Quit all Microsoft Office apps, then open a Terminal window (it’s in the Utilities list of the Applications list in Finder) and paste-in the following, which will match the cursor blink rate with that of the rest of the system (triple-click the line to select all of it before copying):

defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod -int 500

If you want a really fast blinking cursor, like computers of old, try this instead:

defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod -int 100

To restore the default setting, again quit all Microsoft Office apps and type the following into a Terminal window:

defaults delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod

Want to rip tunes from a CD but NOT import them into iTunes? It turns out iTunes can do the job…

Insert a CD and when the dialog box appears asking if you want to import the music, hold down the Option key (Alt on some keyboards) before clicking the Yes button.

You’ll then be able to choose the destination for the files. If the MP3 player is attached you can select it to save the files right onto the device. After the tunes have been ripped, switch to the music list in iTunes and delete the tracks (use the search function to find them), but select not to delete the original files if asked.

Don’t forget that if you’re ripping songs for non-Apple players you’ll need to set iTunes to rip in MP3 format. This can be done by clicking Preferences on the iTunes menu, ensuring the General tab is selected, and clicking the Import Settings button.

I use Pages quite a lot on my iPad as part of my job. One irritating issue is that I can’t add words to its dictionary. In fact, this dictionary is shared amongst all apps and nowhere can you add words. (Note that I’m talking here about the red underlining of words as misspelled; I’m not talking about autocorrect, which can be easily trained by typing the ‘incorrect’ word several times in succession.)

For me the problem isn’t so much not being able to add words to the dictionary as it is removing all the red underlining, which is truly distracting when working. However, I want to retain the live spell checking because it’s useful.

I found a solution. Open the Contacts app and create a new contact. Then type the words you want the device to learn into the first name and surname fields. Close and reopen your doc in Pages and suddenly the words won’t be underlined as misspelled any longer.

Alas, this tip isn’t perfect. Plurals of the words won’t be recognised, for example, so must be added individually.

But this works well enough for me, usually to enter proper nouns that my iPad and iPhone simply don’t know. Note that if you’ve a Mac you can create the contact there and it’ll sync automatically with your iDevices via iCloud.

I hesitate to post tips like this because it feels like a problem that Apple will surely fix sooner rather than later. Alas, people have been waiting for several years now. The whole text entry system on iOS needs attention but Apple seemingly refuses to do so.

Ever get tired of iPhoto being so s-l-o-w? This is a problem that Apple has never cracked — iPhoto is as slow now as it was back on G4 Macs back in 2004, which is remarkable considering modern computers are unimaginably powerful compared to back then.

A solution’s been built into iPhoto for some time but almost nobody knows about it. Hold down Option (Alt on some keyboards) when starting iPhoto and a dialog box will pop-up letting you switch between iPhoto libraries. You’ll only have one if you’ve never done this before, but the dialog box lets you create as many as you wish.

When you select the new library it’ll be like using a fresh installation of iPhoto — the library will be empty and waiting for you to import pictures. More importantly, it’ll be speedy.

You could have separate libraries for every vacation you go on, for example, or perhaps have just two — one for work, and one for home.

When you select a new library it becomes the default and iPhoto will always open with that library each time it starts unless you again hold down Option when starting the app and select a different library, which will then become the new default.

If you’ve ever delved into the Trash to fish-out a deleted file, you’ll know it has an irritating limitation — there’s no way of knowing WHEN a file was deleted.

Files dragged to the Trash aren’t updated when they’re put there, so carry across the date stamps they previously had — a file last modified on 1st June 2010 will still show that date in the Trash, even if it was deleted yesterday. And if you’ve trashed several versions of disneyland.jpg, there’s no reliable way of knowing which of them is the one you most recently deleted.

There is a Date Added column within Finder that you can sort by but in my experience this doesn’t actually show when the files were added to the Trash! In fact, with most files all that appears is two dashes (—).

Below is one solution to this issue. It uses a folder action to automatically update the date stamp on each file that you put in the Trash, so you can then simply sort by the standard Date Modified column in the Finder window to see the most recently deleted files.

1. Start by opening Terminal, which you’ll find in the Utilities folder of the Applications list of Finder. Type the following, then quit the Terminal window:

mkdir -p ~/Library/Scripts/Folder\ Action\ Scripts/

2. Open AppleScript Editor, which you’ll also find in the Utilities folder of the Applications list in Finder. Then start a new document if one isn’t already visible, and paste in the following code:

on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items
repeat with this_item in added_items
do shell script "find " & quoted form of POSIX path of this_item & " -exec touch {} \\;"
end repeat
end adding folder items to

Click the Compile button to ensure the script is OK — if it is the script will be colorised and indented. If not you’ll see an error.

3. Click File → Save and tap Shift+Command+G. In the dialog box that appears, type ~/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts and click Go. Then type the filename Trash date stamper in the Save As dialog box, selecting “Script” in the File Format drop down. Save the file, then quit AppleScript Editor.

4. Right-click any folder anywhere, and select Folder Actions Setup (you may have to click Services → Folder Actions Setup). Click Cancel on the dialog box that appears offering a list of scripts.

5. In the Folder Actions Setup window, put a check alongside Enable Folder Actions if there’s not one already there. Then at the bottom left click the Plus icon and, in the dialog box that appears, tap Shift+Command+G and type ~/.Trash. Then click Go in the dialog box, then the Open button in the parent dialog box.

6. Straight away you’ll see a list of folder actions. At the bottom will be your new script — Trash Date Stamper.scpt. Select this, and click the Attach button. Close the Folder Actions Setup dialog box when done.

That’s all that’s needed. From now one any files you drag to the Trash will have their “Date Modified” reset to the date and time at which you dragged them to the Trash. You can then select to sort by Date Modified by clicking that heading in List or Column view when you open the Trash to view its contents. Note that it takes a few seconds after you add a file to the Trash for the new date stamp to be applied.

Read a review of Mac Kung Fu 2nd Edition by Nancy Gravley over at the Mac Observer.

OS X currently has a bug wherein if you double-click a file to unzip it, the unzipping process can get jammed without the files being extracted. Even if you Force Quit the unarchiving app, the problem will reappear next time you try and unzip.

Apparently, the following command typed into a Terminal window (Terminal lives in the Utilities folder of the Applications list of Finder) will free things up — ensure you save your files in all open apps before using it:

sudo killall -KILL appleeventsd

Unfortunately I’m not able to test this because, although I’ve suffered from the issue in the past, I’m no longer able to replicate the problem. Let me know how you’re getting on in the comments below.

Another solution, and perhaps a better one, is to install The Unarchiver, which handles decompressing of all kinds of archive files.

Lets hope this bug is fixed in the 10.8.3 update that’s due to hit soon. It was first spotted in October last year.

Try to print something in Preview and it’ll always scale it to fit the page. This can be ridiculous sometimes if you’re trying to print a small resolution photo — you’ll end up with output that looks blocky and ugly.

You can deactivate scaling in the print dialog box — just click the Scale radio box, and type 100% — but this isn’t remembered each time Preview starts, so you must do it each time.

The solution is to quit Preview if it’s open, then open a Terminal window (you’ll find Terminal in the Utilities folder of the Applications list of Finder) and then type the following:

defaults write com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingScaleMode -bool FALSE

From now on Preview’s Scale radio box will be automatically selected with a value of 100% automatically entered. Bear in mind that this can be a hindrance if printing a picture or PDF that’s larger than the page because you’ll end-up only printing part of it. However, you can always enter a smaller value into the scale percentage box to ensure it fits.

To revert back to default scaling settings at a later date, again quit Preview and open a Terminal window before typing the following:

defaults delete com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingScaleMode

One feature that OS X lacks is the ability to select the word or paragraph under the cursor using a keyboard shortcut while editing text. You can do this using the mouse, of course, by double or triple-clicking the word or paragraph. But taking your hands off the keyboard can be a distraction.

Here’s a solution that lets you use Option+W and Option+P to select the word or paragraph under the cursor (Option=Alt on some keyboards).

Additionally, holding down Ctrl in addition will cut the word or paragraph ready for pasting elsewhere (i.e. Ctrl+Option+W to cut the word at the cursor position, and Ctrl+Option+P to cut the paragraph).

The downside is that the new keystrokes won’t work in certain apps, including Microsoft Word. But they work fine in apps like Mail, Safari and Pages. Additionally, the Option+W and Option+P keystrokes usually cause the “∑” and “π” characters to appear, so if you use these regularly then this tip isn’t for you (or you’ll have to use the Characters panel each time to insert the characters — Edit → Special Characters).

Here are the steps required:

1. Open TextEdit, start a new document (File → New), and ensure you’re working on a plain text document by clicking Format → Make Plain Text. If you see the Make Rich Text option there instead then move onto the next step.

2. Paste the following into the new document:

{
"~w" = selectWord:;
"~p" = selectParagraph:;
"^~w" = (selectWord:, cut:);
"^~p" = (selectParagraph:, cut:);
}

3. Click to save the file, and in the Save As dialog box hit Shift+Command+G and type the following into the dialog box that appears:

~/Library

4. Click the New Folder button in the Save As dialog box and type KeyBindings. Then open the new folder you’ve created so you can save your new file there.

5. Give the new file the following name:

DefaultKeyBinding.dict

Quit TextEdit, then restart any open applications and the new shortcuts should work straight away. If not, log out and back in again.

Note that this tip is adapted from a technique outlined in more detail by Lauri Ranta here — thanks Lauri!

Can connect to Wi-Fi? Typical symptoms might include connecting to the wireless router/hotspot but simply being unable to get online.

Here’s some things to try (listed below in order of usefulness but not as a list for you to try in order):

• Turn off Wi-Fi: Click the Wi-Fi icon at the top-right of the desktop and select to turn Wi-Fi off. Then repeat and turn it back on again. This simple trick often fixes things.
• Reset your iPhone:If you’re using your iPhone’s personal hotspot (i.e. tethering), try resetting the iPhone’s network settings.
• Use Network Diagnostics:Open System Preferences, click the Network icon, and click the Assist Me button at the bottom. Then click the Diagnostics button in the dialog that appears. If asked at any stage if you’re using DHCP, answer affirmatively.
• Activate proxy detection:Open System Preferences, click Network, then click the Advanced button at the bottom right. Click the Proxies tab and put a check alongside Auto Proxy Discovery and Automatic Proxy Configuration. Alternatively, if those boxes are already checked, remove the checks alongside. then click OK, and the Apply button. Then try connecting again to the Wi-Fi network.
• Turn off secure connections:Some networks use Captive Portal technology, which is to say they make you sign-on whenever you connect. In the past my Mac has got locked into a loop trying to connect, constantly refreshing the page without letting me access it. I noticed that if I remove the https:// at the start of the address, and replace it with http://, everything worked correctly. This was down to a bug in Apple’s auto detection technology that might or might not have been fixed by now.