An alias functions in much the same way as a Windows shortcut. It provides an icon that points to the original file and this icon can be placed anywhere (in a stack on the dock, the desktop, etc) while requiring minimal storage space. Using the File –> Make Alias method takes a little more effort than I like, since not ony do you have to select the items from the menu, you have to clean up the alias name so that it no longer includes the word “alias.”

When you launch an application, its dock icon will bounce until the application appears. If you find this annoying, you can easily get rid of it and be done with this distraction.

The Activity Monitor is quite useful for pulling up the CPU, System Memory, and Network activity as well as Disk Activity and Disk Usage. The dock icon can be a useful tool all on its own, without having to keep the Activity Monitor window up and running. You can view CPU History as well as CPU, Disk, Memory, or Network Usage.

OS X now contains a very helpful, pop-up dictionary. It works in textedit, safari, and terminal.

By using Preview’s Grab utility, you can easily make screenshots of your Mac desktop and application windows. While you can use various keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots, it is sometimes easier to use mouseclicks instead of the keyboard. Another advantage is that Preview gives you the option of taking timed screenshots that allow you 10 seconds to set up your shot before it snaps the screenshot.

If you have the misfortune of having a DVD or CD stuck in your drive, here’s a tip that will work in most cases.

At times, it would be nice to have your email read to you while you do other things. Leopard’s Mail.app will read aloud any email(s) you select from your Inbox.

If you receive an email from someone that you really wish didn’t have your email address, you can make them think that they don’t. By using the Bounce functionality that is included in the OS X mail client to fool the pest into thinking that their email did not reach the intended goal. The sender […]

If you rely on the Trackpad instead of a mouse, you should explore the options that are available to increase its functionality and increase your productivity.

Frequently I need to forward important emails from work to my home address as well. Here is how to set this up with the OS X mail application.

If you want to hide the Hard Disk icon from your desktop so that you can maintain a clean look, follow this Tech-Recipe. These directions are accurate for all modern versions of OS X including 10.7 Lion.

Without proper management, your Trash folder can get out of control and take up unnecessary space on your drive. You can either manually manage the items in your Trash folder, or you can set the interval that you want Mail.app to automatically remove these items.