Manage Your eBooks With Calibre

Calibre is a great program for managing your eBook collection.  Calibre allows you to manage your collection in an iTunes like format and gives users great tools for converting eBooks to popular formats such as epub.  The Utility also syncs to popular eBook readers and can download missing cover art.  Calibre is free to use and is available for OS X, Linux, and Windows.

Command Line Completion

A feature that most people probably don't know about is command line completion in DOS. If you still use cmd.exe in Windows, you can save a little time by hitting TAB to complete filenames and paths/folders.

This makes navigating and launching commands quicker. Give it a try. Open a command prompt, and simply hit TAB. It will scroll through the files/folders within the directory. You can also auto complete paths as you're typing them, not just files/folders in your current directory.

Command line completion also works with most command line interfaces: Unix/Linux shells, OS X Terminal, Cisco IOS, and more. Check out the Wikipedia page dedicated to command line completion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_line_completion

Change Your Default Windows Copy Handler

Have you ever tried copying files but the process was halted because Windows had trouble with one of the files? And then you're left not knowing exactly which files copied? Moving your files from one location to another is made easier with TeraCopy.

TeraCopy lists your files as they are copying and gives a status of the file. If a file is skipped because it already exists or another reason, TeraCopy will continue to work until all files have been processed.

Make your file copying tasks faster and easier. TeraCopy is definitely worth the download.

iTunes Tip: Create A PDF Of Your Entire Music Collection

If you have a large music collection, remembering everything you own can be almost impossible.  With Mac OS X's built in PDF writer, creating a PDF of your entire music collection is a snap.  

In iTunes, select File -> Print

Choose Song Listing for a text only print out of your library or choose Album Listing for a colorful layout sorted buy albums complete with cover art.

Click Print and then choose the PDF button in the lower left. In the drop down, pick Save As PDF.  Name your file and your done!

The Windows version of iTunes has this ability, but Windows does not have native PDF creation, so you will need a 3rd party program.

Convert Your Movies To Play On iPad & iPhone

Converting your favorite movie to play on your iOS device is easy.  The biggest hurdle in the process is the time it takes to convert the video to the correct format.  iOS plays H.264 mp4 videos using the m4v extention.  

There are 2 free software programs required to convert your videos and both programs are available for OS X, Windows, and Linux!  Although you need to install 2 programs, the only program you need to launch is Handbrake.  Handbrake handles all the video encoding, but it can also decrypt your videos using VLC.

 

 

Encoding your videos: 

• Install VLC and Handbrake


• Launch Handbrake


• Select video source (dvd or already ripped video files)


• Select your preset- In Handbrake 0.94, I found AppleTV Legacy works on my iPod Touch, iPad, computer, and WDTV)


• Sit back and relax, it may take a while.  Encoding a 2hr movie on my Core Duo iMac takes about 2hrs.  Newer computer are much faster but there is still plenty of room for speed improvements.

 

 One nice feature of Handbrake is its ability to queue video encodings.  To do this, you will need to have your video source files ripped ahead of time.  You can use any program you like.  For Mac OS X, my favorite program is RipIt. 

 

Now just import your encoded video into iTunes.  If you want, you can right click on the file in iTunes and select properties or Get Info (depending on your operating system) and click on the Artwork tab.  In this tab, you can paste your favorite movie poster or DVD cover into the file.

Sync your device and your all done.  Enjoy your movie anywhere you want!

Mac OS X Tip: Popular Terminal Commands

Show hidden files in Finder

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

Change TRUE back to FALSE to hide files

Both commands require the Finder to be restarted

 

Enable Safari debug menu

defaults write com.apple.safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

Change 1 to 0 to disable

 

Disable Dashboard

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

Change YES to NO to enable

Both commands require you to restart the dock by typing killall Dock in the Terminal

 

Changes all mail to plain text

defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE

Change TRUE to FALSE to undo

 

Disable unexpectedly quit dialog from application crash

defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none

Change none to prompt to enable

Quick Tip:Remove Playlist Item From iTunes Library

Here is a quick tip for deleting an iTunes playlist item from the main iTunes library.

For Mac OS X:

Press the option and delete keys for the selected track to remove it from the library.

For Windows:

Press the shift and delete keys for the selected track to remove it from the library.

Productivity Spotlight: Dropbox

 

Dropbox is an online storage product that allows users to sync their data to any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer and Android and iPhone OS mobile devices.  Dropbox provides 2GB of free storage and up to 100GB available for purchase.

After installing Dropbox, a folder is created on your computer. This folder is automatically synced with the service allowing access to your files from any computer, via the desktop or web client. The files are also accessible on your supported mobile device. 

Besides syncing files, Dropbox allows you to share files with other people.  Inside the web client, you can create a URL to any file located in your public folder.  Once you have the link, you can send it out to anyone so they can read the file.  The service also supports collaboration.  Users can create new or share existing folders and grant members access to the files.  If one of the participants is not a Dropbox user, an email invitation will be sent to the individual.

If you are an iPad user, the Dropbox app is a must have.  The interface is clean and easy to use and it makes getting files on your iPad a snap.