Snow Leopard – Use Quicktime Player to capture web video and audio

One of Snow Leopard’s biggest changes was the built-in Quicktime Player.  The new player allows you to capture video, audio and also screencasts (ie capture your computer’s screen in a movie).  However, by default you are only allowed to use an internal/external mic for audio capturing.  You cannot capture audio from your mac itself (ie sound from a movie playing in your browser or music from a website).  With the help of a free plugin, Soundflower, for Snow Leopard, we can in turn use Quicktime Player’s screen recording abilities as a very free and easy way to capture web video and audio.

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Snow Leopard: Minimize Windows into Application Icon

If you are tired of open windows taking up space on the Dock, you can set Snow Leopard to minimize open windows into the application icon.

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QuickTime X: Enable Video AutoPlay

By default, video does not automatically begin playing when you open it up. By using a simple Terminal command, you can enable AutoPlay and enjoy your movies without having to click Play.

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Snow Leopard – Remove MobileMe / iSync menu bar icon

Snow Leopard lets one sync his/her own Google contacts and Yahoo contacts to iCal and Address Book.  However, a side effect of this is that you will get a Sync Menu Bar item added. For some this is useful, for me its annoying and removing this menu bar item is not as intuitive as one would think. This recipe will explain how to remove the MobileMe / iSync menu bar item.

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iPhone / iPod Touch: How to Use Custom WebClip Icons

The iPhone and iPod Touch allow you to bookmark websites and add them to your home screen. If the site is configured to do so, you will see nice WebClip icon on your iPhone (iPod Touch), but if there is no WebClip icon specified, you will have a shrunk down screenshot of the page for the icon. Here’s how to get custom WebClip Icons for sites without one (or for sites with ones you don’t like).

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iTunes / iPhone – Put iTunes into Activation Only Mode (Enterprise deployment)

This recipe is for those of us that work in an enterprise/corporate setup and support iPhones.  If you support iPhones via Exchange, you most likely will at some point have to activate an iPhone or two.

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Using iPhone 3G S Voice Control Commands

Apple’s latest hardware upgrade for the iPhone line, the iPhone 3G S, adds voice control capabilities. Without looking at the device, using voice control you can easily dial the phone using numbers or a contact’s name, and control the iPod with various commands. Here are the details:

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iPhone 3G S: Show Battery Percentage

The new 3G S has several nice, little features. One of my favorites is the ability to show a percentage of the battery life in the upper right hand corner instead of just the battery graphic. Here is how to do it.

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