Every time you open a new Finder window from the menu bar or using the shortcut Command + N it will display a certain folder. This is the same folder every time you use the command. This can be a very useful location like the root of your hard drive, or your documents folder. However, if you don’t use these folders or it have been set to an obtuse folder it can be difficult to use, or very annoying. This can easily be changed to something more useful.

Security is very important on your Mac. Your data is also very important and you don’t want it falling into the wrong hands. By encrypting your data you can ensure that it is more difficult to get the actual files. You can encrypt your Mac’s hard drive, why not apply the same rules to your Time Machine backup drive. It is a very simple process to implement and gives you that piece of mind to ensure that your data is safe.

Your Mac does a lot of background task without you having any input. Time Machine for example, backs up on its own and will continue to do so until the disk is full. This article is going to show you a variety of different methods and tools which you can use to automate the other parts of your life. For example, if you find yourself repeatedly doing the same task every Wednesday at 4:32pm, it may be worth automating this. This list comprises of the simple methods, which most people will employ to the more complicate which involve a little bit of time to set up. I have listed the top methods which I use, however there are many other ways. If you have a suggestion please leave a comment.

Yesterday I posted about various Mac security improvements you can make to your Mac. Today’s is a post about turning off IPv6 and the security improvements it can make. IPv6 is a protocol that allows your Mac to communicate with other computers. It is soon going to replace the existing IPv4. IPv6 may allow rogue applications to communicate with out you being aware of it. It can essentially piggy back on your network without you knowing. This post is going to show you how to turn this service off.

Security should be very important. Although your Mac’s operating system is generally very secure, there are things you can do to make sure you have a locked down system. These tricks and tips are not going to disable you system so you can’t use it. They are every day tips which you should be following to ensure you don’t leave any back doors inadvertently open. If you don’t apply them all it doesn’t matter however the more you apply the more secure your system will be. If you have any addition please leave them in the comments.

If you find yourself repeatedly typing the same thing over and over again you will want a better solution. You could copy the data to the clipboard, but this is quickly forgotten when you copy something new. To get around this problem we can create a Service which when activated with a keystroke will paste the text into any application. This means you can assign a piece of text to a keyboard short cut which, when pressed, will appear in any text box, field or place that can accept text. This can save a lot of time.

CD and DVD drives are becoming rarer in an all digital world. Apple, in fact, has developed an external superdrive because they are not including internal drives within their laptops. However, those people who still use them may want to alter the way CD’s and DVD’s behave when they are inserted into your Mac. There are not many options, however it may help if you find yourself constantly trying to battle against the default settings. This method also alters the way Bluetooth headsets behave.

When you use Terminal there may arise a situation where you want to save the text or output that you have generated. This can be useful as a backup or a method to record what you have been doing. For example, if you want to save the list of files within a folder, this text can be saved for future reference. There are two methods to save out Terminal output. The first is to use the built in menu bar command, the second is to use a Terminal command. Both have there advantages and disadvantages.