soundingblue

I don’t like Apple’s Mighty Mouse. Aestically, it looks very good. Size is pretty much a preference thing so I won’t comment.

However, the scroll button feels flimsy and due to the touch sensitive buttons, some of my clicks don’t register, which can get very annoying. This also means that the buttons don’t work independently. I currently use a Microsoft Intellimouse with the tilt wheel. I have the middle click button setup to work expose the Finder desktop via Exposé. When I want to drag a file from the desktop to an application I’m working in, I click the middle button to expose the desktop, left click and drag the file in question and then click on the middle button again to return to my application while still holding on to my left button. This allows me to drop the file into my application. You cannot do this with the Mighty Mouse, which is a shame.

I also prefer the scroll wheel on the Intellimouse than the scroll button on the MM. The Mighty Mouse’s scroll button feels flimsy and cheap. It’s also harder to control than the scroll wheel which seems to have a nice “drag” to it. However, side scrolling is better on the Mighty Mouse as the one on the Intellimouse does not scroll continuously horizontally.

Of course, the Intellimouse is also cheaper. ;p

One user in MUGS asked how to stop the insertion point from blinking in OS X.

This is the default:

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod 560

This stops it from blinking. It’s a hack because ‘1′ sets the cursor to blink so fast that it appears not to be blinking at all.

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriod 1

UPDATE:

Seems that this will only work with some applications. It did not work with Microsoft Word. Also, changing the value to 1 works on LCd monitors but for CRTs, it’s better to have the value at something ridiculously long, e.g. 10000000000000000

Just found this cool plug-in called Skype Caller. It allows you to dial with Skypeout, entries from Address Book in OS X

Tired of iTunes’ usual visual plugins? Jewelcase is a neat one that someone from the Appletalk Australia forum discovered that is absolutely free of charge. It’s also a visual plugin for iTunes but it shows a virtual CD case in 3D with the album cover as well as the track listings from the album on the back.

43 Folders has a nice article on some Quicksilver tips.

43 Folders: Quicksilver: Me & My Arrow

Interesting application pointed out to me by Tim, Dragcopy uses Rendezvous and allows you to drag and drop files across your local networks. No messy dialogs and passwords to deal with.

The software, not the animation.

This software is quite a neat idea. It hides applications that are inactive according to a time that you can set in the preferences.

Skype Beta has been relased for OS X.

Get it here.

I find that it’s easier to connect to another party using Skype than iChat as Skype doesn’t require any configuration if you’re behind a NAT or firewall. This is especially so when I’m trying to communicate with someone on a Windows machine. Using iChat and AIM, it’s usually a hit and run affair trying to get a connection, but with Skype, it’s a sure-shot.

Sticky Windows allows you to turn any windows in OS X into a little tab that sticks out from the sides of the screen.

How does it work? When you drag a window to the edge of the screen, Stick Windows transforms that into a tab, effectively giving you an easy access to your opened windows, yet reducing clutter on the desktop.

Here’s why I think BluePhoneMenu rocks.

1. Dial any number, not just those in your address book.
2. Browse the text messages stored in both phone memory and sim card
3. It’s free.