Saturday Mac riddles 270

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


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

A brief history of the Finder Alias

Introduced in System 7 in 1991, long before symbolic and hard links became available in Mac OS X, they've been revised and extended to bookmarks since. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

An A to Z of Landscapes: Contents

All the articles in this series, from Aerial Perspective to Zeitgeist. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Why launch constraints can crash apps

One cause of an app crashing as soon as it's launched, these constraints prevent you from running bundled apps copied elsewhere, and can now be used by third-party apps. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

The Real Country: 1 Under the plough

Preparing the soil to deliver its best yields using a mould-board or turning plough, pulled by a team of oxen, helps the soil drain and breaks it up into a fine tilth ready for sowing. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Dual-booting your Mac with multiple versions of APFS

What if you want to boot your Mac using two or more different versions of macOS, with different versions of APFS? Here's how to avoid problems. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Reading visual art: 151 Camels in life

Ridden by Napoleon, crossing Australian desert, walking on the beach at Aqaba, on the streets of Tbilisi, in North Africa and Arabia. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Controlling System Integrity Protection using csrutil: a reference

Why disable the whole of SIP when all you need is to disable some of its features? Here are all the options explained, and how to combine them. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Apple has just released an update to XProtect Remediator

Apple has just released an update to XProtect Remediator security software for Catalina or later, bringing it to […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Reading visual art: 150 Camels in narrative

In Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, animals charmed by Orpheus, the story of Rebecca and Eliezer, and accompanying the three Magi to the Nativity. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Sonoma’s unfinished business: exclaves, conclaves and the kernel

Sonoma 14.4 added support for exclaves and conclaves, which are used in Sequoia's virtual machines. What is an exclave, and what does it add? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Changing Paintings: 33 The origins of Theseus

Fathered by King Aegeus and Poseidon, after revealing sandals and a sword, Medea tried to poison him with aconite to stop him knowing his father. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 269

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 269. Here are my solutions to them. 1: Palmtop […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

How to install a Combo update of recent macOS?

Explanations of how macOS updates work, and their differences between minor updates for Catalina and Sonoma. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Heroines 12: The many faces of Medea

Princess, sorceress, seductress, wife, mother, and vengeful filicide - which is the true face of Medea, and why shouldn't you try to paint her? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Last Week on My Mac: Lost Force Click

On my Magic Trackpad, Force Click vanished. As it had recently updated its firmware, it looked like that update had caused the problem, although that no longer makes sense. Does your Magic Trackpad have the same problem? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Heroines 11 & 13: Canace and Laodamia in secret

A woman who became pregnant as a result of incest, whose only portrait is in the Vatican Museums, and another whose husband was first to be killed in the war against Troy, whose painting is near Nelson's dockyard. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Saturday Mac riddles 269

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


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

A proposed new interface for SilentKnight 3

After a batch of new MacBook Pros were delivered with SIP disabled: LockRattler (December 2016), EFIcienC then SilentKnight (July 2019), and here's what version 3 should look like. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

The Real Country: Paintings of life in the countryside

An introduction to a new series tracing the history of the countryside in fine paintings. Explains why some English country lanes have so many twisting bends. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

How to tell if an app is notarized

Although macOS won't tell, Apparency will, even down to launch constraints. Other alternatives, and how to check in the command line. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Edward Poynter’s classical stories: 2 from 1880

Aesculapius, Psyche, the Esquiline Venus, views in Roman villas, Queen Sheba visiting King Solomon, storm nymphs, and a lascivious dance. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

What changed in macOS Sonoma? End of term report

How has the System changed in numbers since Mojave? Why has the number of kernel extensions risen since their deprecation? Why so many Private Frameworks? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Reading visual art: 149 The horse in later narrative

The horse in chivalry, carrying Mazeppa or Haidamak insurgent, in the circus, racing riderless through Rome, and in Vernet's studio. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

macOS updates are shrinking, but what happened to RSRs?

How large were Sonoma's updates? How many were unscheduled patches? Why were there no RSRs? What does Sequoia hold in store? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Reading visual art: 148 The horse in myth and legend

Apollo's chariot, that of Pluto and Achilles, the Trojan Horse, Lady Godiva's, and the mount of Saint George when he slays the dragon. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

OS X Server 2.2 in August 2012

An extended tutorial-review of Mountain Lion Server, OS X Server 2.2, written in 2012-13, with copious screenshots. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Changing Paintings: 32 Medea’s murder by proxy

Medea tricks the daughters of King Pelias into trying to rejuvenate their father, and they end up killing him. She splits up with Jason, then murders their two sons. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 268

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 268. Here are my solutions to them. 1: Notice […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

What’s the time Mr. APFS? With a new version of Precize

Update adds two new datestamp fields, and gives decimal seconds in times. Use this app to explore how macOS sets those on files, as shown. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Bonington’s brilliant decade of landscape paintings: 2

After some history paintings, he travelled to Venice, where many of his finest paintings were made. Then he fell ill with TB and died when he was only 25. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 months ago

Last Week on My Mac: What is happening with XProtect updates?

While other Macs had happily updated XProtect's data in the normal way, my Sequoia beta system told me it was out of date, and refused to find an updater. Then I recalled an old tweet. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Bonington’s brilliant decade of landscape paintings: 1

He painted successful watercolour views of Paris before he turned 18, and went on to paint across Europe in oils and watercolours that had great influence. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Saturday Mac riddles 268

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


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Gatekeeper and notarization in Sequoia

How is it going to be harder to run apps that haven't been notarized in Sequoia, and does it bring any benefit in return for the inconvenience? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Edward Poynter’s classical stories: 1 to 1880

First Slade Professor, Principal of what became the Royal College of Art, Director of the National Gallery, and President of the Royal Academy, yet now forgotten. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

SilentKnight version 2.10 works better with XProtect updates

How to update XProtect from a version number of 0 to 5271 in a single command, with the aid of a new version of SilentKnight. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

A to Z of Landscapes: Zeitgeist

Some of the greatest paintings forming the zeitgeist of the genre, from Poussin, Rubens, Valenciennes, Turner, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and others. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Sequoia changes security data updates: updated utilities

Sequoia doesn't use previous tools to update and maintain XProtect, so causes havoc with apps like Skint and SilentKnight. Two updates should help. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Apple has released Sonoma 14.6.1 and 13.6.9 security updates

Apple has just released security update to bring macOS Sonoma to version 14.6.1, and Ventura to 13.6.9. There’s […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Reading visual art: 147 Swimmers in views

Some of the greatest works of Impressionism, including Monet and Renoir's 'Bathers at la Grenouillère', and one of Bazille's last works. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Copy speeds of large and sparse files

What can cause low copy speeds for very large and possibly sparse files, such as VMs? Causes explained, and tools you can use to discover why. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 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 141, […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Reading visual art: 146 Swimmers in narrative

Stories involving swimmers, including Hero and Leander, the Ship of Fools, and a poem by Thomas Gray, with paintings by Bosch, Rubens and others. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

How long does Apple support Mac firmware?

How long does Apple continue to provide firmware updates for a model once it has been introduced? Results from 40 different models since 2009. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Changing Paintings: 31 Rejuvenating Aeson

Jason's father was too old to celebrate his son's success in getting the Golden Fleece, so his wife Medea uses sorcery to wind the clock back and make him young again. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 267

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 267. Here are my solutions to them. 1: Where […] | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago

What are all those Containers?

Everything you need to know about Containers, Group Containers and Daemon Containers, providing a sandboxed Home folder for apps. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 months ago