Console, the vital tool that Apple abandoned

Free video surveillance software allowing capture, analysis, recording and monitoring of any CCTV or security cameras. Using IP and web cameras, you can design a system as large or as small as you need with our free video surveillance software. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 3 years ago

How to get more detail in the macOS log

There’s no shortage of entries, but are they the ones you need, and do they contain the information that’s important? How to change that. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 3 years ago

macOS 10.16 is all about tools and maturity

Without addressing shortcomings in tools and maturity of macOS, 10.16 has flawed foundations, and is likely to fall flat. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 3 years ago

Last Week on My Mac: It’s about user choice

Apple is proud of high adoption rates of its OS upgrades. But 10.15 and 10.16 inevitably prevent many from using them. It’s time for Apple to understand that, and make 10.16 a macOS release w… | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 3 years ago

MacKeeper 4.3 Is Notarized

Remember MacKeeper? Would it surprise you to hear that it has now been notarized? Let me tell you a little about its notorious past. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

File Integrity 9: How error-correcting codes work

How can you squeeze recovery data into smaller storage space than you’d need for a second copy of a file? Using codes, explained here. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

File Integrity 6: Which image format is most resilient?

Which format – alongside Camera Raw – should you store archived images in: JPEG, PNG, TIFF or Apple’s new HEIC? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Mac ResEdit and Resource Forks (2016)

If you wanted to mess someone’s Mac up, you could go into their system files and change things around when they were out at lunch. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Last Week on My Mac: Deceived by the Finder

Where does Apple warn the user that four stray files in an unprotected folder are specially protected by the Sandbox kernel extension? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

The Nightmare of PDF Forms

Just fill in this form – then the problems start. They look fine in Preview or another app, but don’t work right. Here’s why. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Time Machine in Catalina 10.15.3 has serious bugs

When making a first full backup of less than 2 GB takes 86 minutes, and you then can’t restore from it anyway. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

When more security subverts security

Using Little Snitch, this becomes unresolvable, as the app can’t complete first run checks, and every time you try, it’s translocated to a different folder, causing Little Snitch to blo… | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Is Catalina a Good Upgrade Yet?

Although 10.15.3 fixes a serious bug in Mail and Catalina is steadily maturing, there are many users who still shouldn’t upgrade. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

‘Erase Mac’ Doesn’t?

What does the terse phrase Erase Mac mean? If you think that it means completely erase your Mac, then I’m with you. But that apparently isn’t what Apple means, at least not when it come… | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Publishers Determined to Kill E-Books

A recent judgement makes it a breach of copyright to sell pre-owned eBooks. Do publishers really want to deter everyone from buying eBooks? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Time Machine: How it works, or fails to

New series looking at how TM works, what its problems are, what tools to use to diagnose those, and how to fix it. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

macOS Catalina Boot Volume Layout

Note: I have now updated this with the latest roadmaps for 10.15 release. A further article will follow on 11 October explaining more about these. When you upgrade to macOS 10.15 Catalina, your boo… | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Time Machine and backing up in Catalina

Time Machine has changed in Catalina, but details haven’t been provided. How best to prepare to upgrade, and how to address its problems. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Hitting the limits of APFS is both easy and confusing

What’s the minimum size of a container, or a volume, in APFS? The answer can range from 1.05 MB up to 167.8 MB, it appears. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Known bugs in macOS Mojave 10.14.6: an incomplete summary

Little changed from 10.14.5, the final release of Mojave still has many significant bugs. Here’s a partial listing. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Apple Pulls 2019-004 High Sierra and Sierra Security Updates After Kernel Panics

Apple has pulled the High Sierra and Sierra Security Updates 2019-004 today as a result of numerous users suffering problems when their updated Macs go to sleep. These have been reported particular… | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Last Week on My Mac: Making Notarization as Hard as Possible

Preparing software for distribution shouldn’t be harder than writing the code in the first place. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 4 years ago

Should you leave your Mac running all the time?

What are the benefits to leaving your Mac running all the time? And the costs? Which should you choose to do? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Mac: Keyboard Shortcuts Killed by Bug

Want to use App Shortcuts in Mojave? You’re out of luck because its broken, and Apple can’t be bothered to fix it. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

AppKit, TextKit, Core Data – Signs of Disease

More bugs in Calculator and Activity Monitor when printing, dreadful lack of documentation of AppKit, TextKit, and CoreData. No wonder Apple is struggling to sell iPhones in China. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Aliases, hard links, symlinks, and copies in Mojave’s APFS

Mojave has 5 different types of copy/clone/alias/link, some of which can appear to behave oddly. Here they are, fully explained. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Fusion Drives in APFS

How does the volume structure differ between Fusion Drives in HFS+ and APFS formats? Does Disk Utility show an accurate picture? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

What has changed in macOS Mojave 10.14.1?

Over 7 GB installed, Apple claims it only adds Group FaceTime, adds over 70 new emoji, and fixes a list of vulnerabilities. So what has actually changed? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

No Entry - Access controls in Mojave

Permissions, ACLs, SIP, TCC privacy protection, and now DataVaults – Mojave has many ways of stopping software from opening files and folders. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Launching apps in Mojave: how it has changed

Mojave checks newly-installed apps which are not from the App Store more thoroughly, and handles notarized apps differently too. Here are some details. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Mac App Downloads – The Eclectic Light Company

Consolation, LockRattler, Storyspace documents, and more. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Mojave’s privacy protection and command tools: a collision

Apple has shown a way ahead for full apps to access private data in Mojave, but has been curiously silent with respect to command tools. How will they cope? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Running apps in macOS Mojave with privacy protection

A clear guide to the complexities of privacy protection in Mojave – written for the user rather than the developer. Also free PDF version for download. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Notarization: a big step forward for users and developers

I’m all in favour of better security, so long as it doesn’t make my life any more difficult. Does Notarization fulfil that? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Last Week on My Mac: The Mystery of the Supplemental Update

It contains EFI firmware updates for other models, some already out of date, and a complete set of kernel extensions, again. Why? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Why are the fans in my Mac running at full blast?

By default, your Mac’s cooling fans run at full blast. Only the control system slows them down when it is safe to do so. How to diagnose and fix its problems. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

In memoriam High Sierra

In a couple of weeks, when macOS 10.13.6 update ships, it’ll all be over for High Sierra. What should we remember it for? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Is it time to buy an eGPU?

Apple is now obsessed with performance, as it readies us for new technologies such as augmented reality and machine learning. How will your Mac cope? | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Improving Spotlight search with extended attributes

First full releases of two free tools to edit metadata which can greatly help Spotlight search. Complete with docs and Help books. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 5 years ago

Is the macOS command line doomed?

A defining difference between macOS and iOS, the command line depends on constancy of file names, and consistency of paths. iCloud breaks both, as well as Finder aliases. | Continue reading


@eclecticlight.co | 6 years ago