Mac Os X Panther Hacks

Mac OS X is a wonderful combination of the power and flexibility of Unix with the ease of use that seems to come only from Apple. Between the tools baked right into the system, a veritable cornucopia of third-party applications, and a cottage industry of customizations, tweaks, and hacks, the Mac is a force to be reckoned with like never before. Mac OS X Panther Hacks celebrates the Macintosh's adventurous spirit, inviting the citizen engineer on a quest of deeper discovery-both with the purpose of going further and simply enjoying the ride. Mac OS X Panther Hacks continues the tradition started with Mac OS X Hacks, sitting squarely at the peculiar confluence of deadly earnest optimization and creative (albeit sometimes wacky) tweaking you seem to find only on a Mac. Learn how to: * Discover and hack Panther's interface improvements and delve into the menu tweaks, folder spindles, keyboard and mouse hacks, haxies, and desktop widgets * Interweave Mac's own AppleScript with Perl, Python, Ruby, and shell scripting for a taste of what's possible when you put programming in the hands of mere mortals * Interact with peers, family, friends, and virtual buddies using the best-of-breed mail, web, instant messaging, and other collaborative tools * Draw outside of the otherwise nice, clean lines of your iLife, remixing the hitherto disparate bits of audio, video, and other multimedia content flowing through your digital hub * Draw in and exchange data with WiFi- and Bluetooth-networked devices and FireWire and USB drives, dongles, and third-party devices, and interact with other Macs, Windows and Unix machines, the PDA in your pocket, and the cell phone in your hand * Turn your Mac into a full-fledged web and mail server * Discover, plan, and execute a backup strategy to keep a handle on the chore of storing, organizing, maintaining, and protecting your vital data * Perform regular maintenance and security tasks to keep your Mac running smoothly and reliably.Dornfest, Rael is the author of 'Mac Os X Panther Hacks', published 2004 under ISBN 9780596007188 and ISBN 0596007183.