How to disable the crash dialog...

To disable the crash dialog all you need to do is open the terminal and type the following code:

defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none

Put a gradient behind an icon (LEOPARD ONLY)

(LEOPARD ONLY) Put a small gradient behind an icon just type the following code into the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -boolean YES
killall Dock

How to Kill the Dashboard

If you don't like the dashboard on your Mac there is a way you can kill it and bring it back again.  To kill it type the following code:


defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

killall Dock

To get it back again type the code below:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO
killall Dock

How to make your Mac say anything?

Open Script Editor which can be found by typing "Script Editor" into spotlight.  This works for any version of OSX, even the BETA I think but no one uses that anymore, so full of glitches, features you take for granted just aren't there...  Anyway, when you go into script editor type in:   say "Hello, how are you doing today?"  Copy and paste that, you can replace the text inside the speech marks with anything you want the computer to say, then click the green play button.

Customizing the Dock (Leopard ONLY)

If you have Leopard and you don't like the 3D feeling of the dock, there is a terminal code that can make the dock into a 2D dock similar to the Tiger dock but Glossier and darker =)  The code snippet is below:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES


For this to take action you will need to reset the dock but typing the snippet below:


killall Dock


What is the terminal???!!!
The terminal is a text approach to hacking into your Mac to tweak it.  To get into the terminal search up "terminal" on spotlight.  Copy and paste the snippets above and hit enter.  Some terminal tweaks can be risky so on the risky tweaks 'RISKY!" will be included in the title (This tweak is not very risky though)  If this doesn't work please email stuff.stuff@gmx.com or leave a comment!

How to ignore software updates

Its cool to get free updates from apple, but sometimes an update comes along that you don't want.  All you need to do to turn it off is select it in the list and choose"Ignore update..." from the Update menu.  Or you can just hit the delete key instead...

Likewise, you can do the same except choose "Reset Ignored Updates" from the Update menu if you want it back.  So nothing is set in concrete and you don't have to spend ages deciding wether or not you want to chuck out an update or not...

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Ways of taking a screenshot...

There are a few ways to take a screenshot on your Mac.  The first one, is apple-shift-3   That one takes a picture of the whole screen and saves it on your desktop.  If you want to take a picture of only a selected part of the screen hit apple-shift-4  Then drag a box around where you want to take a picture of.  The picture will appear on the desktop.  To take a picture of the active window, the dock or the menu bar, hit apple-shift-4 then hit the space key and a camera will appear.  Move the camera around the screen and it will highlight different parts of the screen in blue.  Click to take a picture of the area in blue...