APFS: How sparse files work

Sparse files are now common among databases, disk images, and virtual machines. How they work in APFS, how they're created, and how they can explode. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

In Memoriam Emile Claus: Into the light 1

From detailed realism in a Barbizon style around 1880, his paintings steadily filled with rich light, through Impressionism the 1890s. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Where should you back up to?

Consider the fidelity of backup copies, the speed of a backup method, and the risk of losing the contents of that backup. And test backups by restoring samples from them. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

A to Z of Landscapes: Quais

Paintings of the quais of Paris from Bonington in 1819, through Impressionism to the Divisionism of Signac and Maximilien Luce. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

The biggest change coming isn’t in macOS 15

Swift 6 is the first major version for 5 years, and features structured concurrency that will change software for macOS over the coming years. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Sea of Mists: Other common themes

More common themes: mist and mountains, castles and ruins, and the Dresden skyline. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Catch-22: Why SilentKnight 2.8 and Skint 1.06 can’t auto-update

Auto-update in SilentKnight 2.7 and 2.8, and in Skint 1.05 and 10.6, is broken. This is because of not one but two Catch-22s. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Reading visual art: 136 Elephant

From Hannibal crossing the Alps with his war elephants, through the temptation of St Anthony, to the circus and an imaginary India. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Time Machine backing up different file systems

Classic TM backed up HFS+ to HFS+; current TM backs up APFS to APFS. But what if you want to back up a mixture of APFS and HFS+ volumes? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Changing Paintings: 22 Proserpine’s fate

Cupid makes Pluto fall in love with Ceres' young daughter Proserpine. When the king of Hades carries her off with him, there are consequences for the whole world. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 258

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 258. Here are my solutions to them. 1: Sneak […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Why you shouldn’t try cloning your Apple silicon Mac’s startup disk

For 18 years, cloning a boot disk was popular and effective. It was even used as a way of defragmenting free space in housekeeping. Why doesn't it work with Apple's new Macs? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Lovis Corinth and Charlotte Berend: 2 Recovering from disaster

Thanks to the work and support of his wife, he made an excellent recovery and returned to painting. But this had taken its toll, and he died in 1925. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Last Week on My Mac: Looking back from the future

Two watersheds that could occur in macOS 15: that it only supports Macs with Apple chips including an Arm processor, and that it opens access to older versions of macOS on Apple silicon. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Lovis Corinth and Charlotte Berend: 1 Painting days of wine and roses

Corinth lived a bohemian life when he married his first painting student, when she was 22, and he was 44. All went well until 1911, when disaster struck. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Saturday Mac riddles 258

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation. 1: Sneak peek […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

PDF on Macs: the rise and fall of Preview

PDF was introduced by Adobe in 1993, when its viewer Acrobat became popular, and PDFs were created from PostScript using Distiller. Then came Preview from NeXT to Mac OS X. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

A to Z of Landscapes: Panoramas

Although the term didn't come into use until 1791, panoramic landscapes started earlier, and largely stopped by the end of the 19th century. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Skint version 1.06 has a Dock menu command and is ready for macOS 15

Adds a Dock menu command to run its checks without having to bring the app to the front, and should be compatible with macOS 15. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Sea of Mists: Barren trees

Gnarled, twisted, wizened and barren trees are one of the bleakest sights in the winter in northern Europe, and a common motif in German Romanticism. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

SilentKnight version 2.08 improves checks and is ready for macOS 15

Extends checks on XProtect Remediator scans to cover the previous 36 hours, and is ready for use with macOS 15 when it arrives. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Reading visual art: 135 Flags B

Origin of the French tricolour, and Marianne, Norway making its way to independence, 4th July flag parades, and dressing overall at regattas. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Apple’s New Year is coming: macOS 15, 14, 13 and 12

When Apple opens WWDC on 10 June, it will release the first beta of macOS 15 to developers. By September, support for Monterey will be withdrawn. Now is the time to start planning your upgrades. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Apple has just released updates to XProtect and XProtect Remediator

Apple has just released updates to XProtect Remediator security software (Catalina or later), bringing it to version 135, […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Reading visual art: 134 Flags A

Turner's Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, banners in Raphael's and Tintoretto's paintings of the Passion, and Friedrich's Swedish flag. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Will your encrypted data be safe in future?

How will quantum cryptography and the ease with which it should break current methods of encryption, affect the security of data on my Mac? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Changing Paintings: 21 The fate of Phineus, and the Muses on Helicon

The wedding of Perseus to Andromeda turns into a pitched battle, with many turned to stone by Medusa's face. Then 9 daughters challenge the Muses to a contest. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 257

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 257. Here are my solutions to them. 1: Candela, […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

App Store apps can be translocated

It has often been assumed that App Store apps don't undergo app translocation. That isn't true: here's an example of one that gets stuck in eternal translocation because it comes with an unwanted gift. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Heroines: 2 Abandonment, suicide and scandal

When Edward Burne-Jones was invited to remove his painting from exhibition, it wasn't so much the male genitals in the centre, but the scandal surrounding its model. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Last Week on My Mac: Why replace your T2 Mac?

The big question for WWDC is how Apple is going to put more distance between features for Intel and Apple silicon Macs? Here are some suggestions. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Heroines: 1 Penelope in Ithaca

Odysseus had been away from his home, wife Penelope and son Telemachus for over 20 years. What would she have written to him? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Saturday Mac riddles 257

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation. 1: Candela, toxic […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

A short history of styled text on the Mac: TeachText to TextEdit & RTF

The journey from single-document and basic styles, through the lightweight word processor brought to Mac OS X from NeXT. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

A to Z of Landscapes: Oil sketch

From Velázquez's pioneering sketches of 1630, through Valenciennes in 1780, to Constable, Corot, and Pissarro, Manet and John Singer Sargent in the late 19th century. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

How to get timely updates

Is your Mac slow to report and install macOS, security data, or App Store updates? These tips ensure you do get them promptly. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Sea of Mists: Ships

The development of fully-rigged sailing ships in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and JC Dahl. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

How secure is Secure Erase (EACAS)?

Could old images be retained on a device or your Mac after you had securely erased it using Erase Assistant? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Reading visual art: 133 Bagpipes

Played for the Danse Macabre in the Middle Ages, a favourite of Hieronymus Bosch, and Joseph Stella in the early 20th century. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

How Help windows get lost on Intel Macs

Help has been in steady decline since macOS 10.13. More recently, when you open a Help book on an Intel Mac it may get buried, but it doesn't on M-series Macs. Why? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Reading visual art: 132 Aulos, pipe or flute

The double pipe with reeds played by Marsyas in his doomed contest with Apollo, blown by the Sirens, and more. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

SwiftUI on macOS: Drag and drop, and more

Implementing a basic drag-and-drop app for macOS using SwiftUI: the DropDelegate protocol, and working with NSItemProvider. With full source and notarized example. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

SwiftUI on macOS: Drag and drop, Source Code

Swift source code implementing drag and drop and more, to accompany the main article. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Changing Paintings: 20 Perseus kills Medusa

Perseus describes in his wedding speech how he beheaded Medusa, and how she came to have snakes in her hair. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 256

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 256. Here are my solutions to them. 1: A […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

macOS Sonoma 14.5 is the best release this cycle

Although some are still experiencing the issue of new FileVault security keys, Sonoma 14.5 looks the best release yet, and fixes some troublesome bugs. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Rising fog in paintings 2

Into the 20th century, fog became a popular compositional device. Examples from Monet, Pissarro, Vallotton, Hodler and others. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago

Last Week on My Mac: Does security impair usability?

Launching an app for the first time used be simple. Now we have the SSV, launch constraints and app translocation to contend with. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 7 months ago