Dockless hides apps from the dock

I’ve been using a small app called dockless. Dockless hides the icon from the dock…that’s all. But it does it great and it’s free.

Dockless is a little app that does what some people have always wanted – remove certain applications from their dock. Dock real estate can become precious, and some apps don’t make a whole lot of sense sitting there. That’s where Dockless comes in. With Dockless, any OS X application can be made to show in the Dock or not.

Download dockless here

Linked: How to Ensure Ethernet Connects Before AirPort on Your Mac

Some time ago I found this great blog-post about how to prioritize the Ethernet connection over Wi-Fi. In my case this is when I’m at home.

Sometimes, your Mac will connect to a janky Wi-Fi network. The connection is slow or you’re on the other side of a lead wall and you’re getting a really poor signal. When you finally find an Ethernet jack to plug into, you may notice you’re still connected to the Wi-Fi network that was giving you problems. This is because your Network Service Order list is out of its proper order to allow the Ethernet to take over when plugged in. Don’t fret, we’ll show you how to reset the Service Order list on your Mac to ensure that Ethernet takes priority over AirPort.

Read the full post at maclife.com

Linked: eagerZeroedThick powershell script

I found this great Powershell script that convert virtual disk files to eagered zeroed.

Awesome script! I had to make some changes to make it work in my environment.

 function Set-EagerZeroThick{
 param($vcName, $vmName, $hdName)

# Find ESX host for VM
 $vmImpl = Get-VM $vmName
 Write-Host $vmImpl
 if($vmImpl.PowerState -ne "PoweredOff"){
 Write-Host "Guest must be powered off to use this script !" -ForegroundColor red
 return $false
 }

 $vm = $vmImpl | Get-View
 Write-Host $vm
 $esxName = (Get-View $vm.Runtime.Host).Name
 Write-Host $esxName
# Find datastore path
 $dev = $vm.Config.Hardware.Device[10] | where {$_.DeviceInfo.Label -eq $hdName}
 Write-Host $dev
 if($dev.Backing.thinProvisioned){
 return $false
 }
 $hdPath = $dev.Backing.FileName
 Write-Host $hdPath

# For Virtual Disk Manager we need to connect to the ESX server
 $esxHost = Connect-VIServer -Server $esxName -User $esxAccount -Password $esxPasswd

# Convert HD
 $vDiskMgr = Get-View -Id (Get-View ServiceInstance -Server $esxHost).Content.VirtualDiskManager
 Write-Host $vDiskMgr
 $dc = Get-Datacenter -Server $esxHost | Get-View
 Write-Host $dc
 $taskMoRef = $vDiskMgr.EagerZeroVirtualDisk_Task($hdPath, $dc.MoRef)
 Write-Host $taskMoRef
 $task = Get-View $taskMoRef
 Write-Host $task
 while("running","queued" -contains $task.Info.State){
 $task.UpdateViewData("Info")
 }

 Disconnect-VIServer -Server $esxHost -Confirm:$false

# Connect to the vCenter
 Connect-VIServer -Server $vcName
 if($task.Info.State -eq "success"){
 return $true
 }
 else{
 return $false
 }
}

$vmName = "vm1"
$vCenter = "vcenter_server"
$esxAccount = "rootuser"
$esxPasswd = "password"

Set-EagerZeroThick $vCenter $vmName "Hard disk 1"

To validate before and after running the eageredZeroed script I run the following script:

$vm = Get-VM vm1 | Get-View
$vm.config.Hardware.Device[10].backing
$vm.config.Hardware.Device[10].DeviceInfo

Source: http://www.lucd.info/2009/11/15/scripts-for-yellow-bricks-advise-thin-provisioning-alarm-eagerzeroedthick/

Linked: How To Rebuild LaunchServices to Remove Duplicates from “Open With” Menu

Have you ever used the right-click “Open With” feature in Finder when opening a specific type of file?  While this feature is usually pretty handy, if you install and remove applications on a regular basis there may still be traces of those applications that have been long-gone from your Mac. In this how-to, we’ll show how you can rebuild this list so it remains up-to-date and only shows what you currently have on your hard drive.

Basically you open a terminal and run the following command…And wait.

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Source

Linked: ZipCleaner, Create Zip Files Without Any Mac-Specific “Extras” Inside

Yesterday I stumbled across this neat app and great post on Switching To Mac.

One of the great features most modern operating systems offer, and Mac OS X is no exception, is the ability to create a zip archive out of most any document or folder from the Desktop.  Simply right-click the item you want to archive, and choose the Compress option from the contextual menu.

There is a problem, however, when Mac users create a zip archive in this manner, then share that archive with users of Windows or Linux.  The issue is that there are extra files Mac OS X uses, files that track custom icons and icon placement, that are hidden from Mac users.

Source

Linked: Change your mac boot logo

Apparently you can change the Mac boot logo. I haven’t tried it but it sounds kind of fun!

Let’s face it. Part of the whole Mac experience is not having to reboot you machine 3 times a day… ;)

Tired of the grey Apple logo on your Mac? Why not “think different” and “switch” it to something else? “The notebook for everyone” doesn’t give you “the power to be your best” without a little personalization.

What we mean to say is, the Apple boot logo can get very boring over time and there is no easy option in OS X to change it. However, with a few items you can customize it to just about anything you want, or you can confuse your friends by changing their logo without them knowing for a harmless practical joke.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/41091/how-to-customize-your-mac-boot-logo/