Fix some Mac slowdowns

Here are some good tips for fixing slowdowns on your Mac.

Macworld | Fix Mac slowdowns

I especially like the advice given for web browsing and using Mail:

Quit and Relaunch Web browsers tend to be resource hogs, and if you visit lots of media-rich sites, this effect can increase over time. Quit and relaunch your browser occasionally (at least once a day) to speed up browsing and reduce your browser’s impact on other programs.

Over time, though, these databases can become cluttered or even corrupted, resulting in slower overall performance, among other problems. You may be able to speed up your e-mail client significantly by rebuilding the message index every few months.

Mail’s Rebuild command (Mailbox: Rebuild) works only on individual mailboxes.

Adobe makes me mad: disable Adobe plugin

When installing Adobe Reader on your Mac, you also inadvertently install the plugin inside Safari that takes forever to open a pdf. To get rid of it, just delete their damn plugin at:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin

MCLD blog: How to disable Adobe Reader Safari plugin

"Well Known" TCP and UDP ports used by Apple

"Well Known" TCP and UDP ports used by Apple software products:

It's a good idea to know what's coming in and going out of your computer. Here is a handy list of ports and protocols that Apple software uses, just to keep you from freaking out when you see all sorts of weird connections on your log. Also, if your firewall is blocking this stuff and you're missing features (like Bonjour recognizing other Macs, you need to unblock the appropriate ports for your network.

Make auto-login somewhat secure

Here's a great security tip for those who enjoy auto-login on their Mac. Use the screen saver password feature in a new way.

Macworld: Mac OS X Hints: Make auto-login somewhat secure

Yojimbo 1.2 Quick Input Panel Crap (and .Mac syncing)

MacUpdate: Yojimbo Reviews: I like the app, but the Quick Input F-key keeps saying:

'Yojimbo could not communicate with the Quick Input Helper.'

Nothing I've tried seems to fix the error. (9/30/2006, Version: 1.2)

1 Reply To Review:

I finally fixed this problem. Solution: Close Yojimbo, move ~/Library/Application Support/Yojimbo to Desktop, reopen Yojimbo, close it again, return the above folder to its original position.

Now Quick Input Panel works again...go figure.

However, .Mac syncing hasn't worked. I'm hoping this will fix it too.

(10/10/2006, Version: 1.2)

Google Software Downloads for the Mac

Google Software Downloads for the Mac: "All kinds of great Google goodies for the Macintosh!"

Tweaked Firefox - Surf Anonymously

Tweaked Firefox Lets You Surf Internet Without a Trace:

"A tweaked version of Firefox that makes Web browsing anonymous has been released by a group of privacy-minded coders."

If you're a paranoid privacy type, this just might be for you.