Tired of looking at all those screenshots on your desktop? Tidy it up and store them in a folder … automatically.
Open the Screenshot.app in Finder in /Applications/Utilities
Select ‘Options’ from the toolbar and choose a folder (I created a _screenshots folder on the desktop)
Now anytime you take a screenshot using the keyboard shortcuts (Shift + Cmd + 3 or Shift + Cmd + 4) or the Screenshot.app it’ll save the screenshots in your folder automagically
I imagine if you stumble across this you already know what a VPN is, so I’m not going to bother going into it here. If you’re curious what a VPN is and why you may need it, this article should answer that. I’ll post another tutorial in the future on using a VPN for remote access and screen sharing to a Mac.
After a bit of research last weekend, it was apparent NETGEAR has not updated their documentation for setting up a VPN on macOS with their routers. I tried using Tunnelblick per their recommendation and it wouldn’t work. Additionally, the default VPN configuration files for macOS from the router do not work correctly.
Before we get started, please note that I’m using a Nighthawk AC1750 router, which shouldn’t matter because the steps are similar with other VPN enabled NETGEAR routers. Hopefully these instructions should make your setup easy and headache-free:
Unless you’re a business and can get a static IP from your ISP, you’ll need to set one up with a third-party. NETGEAR recommends No-IP. Go ahead and setup a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) through No-IP.com
I’d recommend the Enhanced Dynamics DNS ($24.95/yr) so you don’t have to bother confirming your hostname every month
Go ahead and download the Dynamic Update Client for Mac. This checks for an IP address change. When a different IP address is detected, it updates your hostname to the correct IP.
Once you’re finished, have your Host Name, User Name, and Password ready for the next steps
Make sure you’re connected to your local internet or Wi-Fi network
Login to your router by going to 192.168.1.1 or routerlogin.net
The default login credentials are “admin” and “password”, which you should have changed by now ;-)
In the router settings go to Advanced > Advanced Setup > Dynamics DNS
Check the box for “Use a Dynamic DNS Service”
In the Service Provider drop-down menu choose “www.No-IP.com”
In the fields below, enter your Host Name, User Name, and Password from No-IP
Click “Apply” to save this information
Go to the VPN Service tab which is right below Dynamic DNS on the left side under “Advanced Setup”
Check the box for “Enable VPN Service”
Leave the Advanced Configurations to their defaults:
TUN Mode Service Type: UDP
TUN Mode Service Port: 12973
TAP Mode Service Type: UDP
TAP Mode Service Port: 12974
Clients will use this VPN connection to access: Auto
For the OpenVPN configuration package download, please click “For Smart Phone”
Don’t worry, the config file for smart phone will work on macOS. You have to use smart phone config file because the “For non-Windows” (aka Mac) version is outdated and won’t work properly.
When you open the smartphone.zip file, you should see 4 files:
ca.crt
client_phone.ovpn
client.crt
client.key
Now, you need to download the latest version (3.0.2) of OpenVPN client for macOS from here
Once you install OpenVPN, open it up. You should it in the menubar.
Click on “Install Profile”
Drag and drop the “client_phone.ovpn” file onto OpenVPN
Rename the server hostname if you’d like
To use your VPN, connect to a different network other than your local, like a mobile hotspot for example
Once you’re on an outside network, go to OpenVPN in the menubar and click on “Connect”
Fortunately, there have already been temporary solutions (SelfControl) that can temporarily block websites on your Mac. If you’re looking for a more ‘permanent’ solution, enter these commands in Terminal:
Open up Terminal in /Applications/Utilities.
In the command line, type in "sudo nano /etc/hosts".
When asked, type your admin password.
In the screen that will appear, you’ll see the host database for your computer.
Using your down arrow, go to the bottom, right under where it says, "127.0.0.1 localhost".
Type in "127.0.0.1 hit ‘tab’, then enter facebook.com”.
On a new line, type in "127.0.0.1" hit ‘tab’, then enter www.facebook.com"; this is for extra measure.
Now, hold down Control + “O”. This will save the changes to the host database.
Hit “Return” and then Control + “X” to exit the screen.
Remove the existing cache by typing in "sudo dscacheutil -flushcache" in the command line, this refreshes the existing cache on the host database.
You should receive an “Unable to connect” error message when you go to Facebook.com now.
Recently I was working on a website using an eCommerce platform, which requires a database. In a situation like that, where I’ll need PHP and MySQL, I prefer to use MAMP for its simplicity. It’s a great application for the Mac that enables you to setup a local server environment in a matter of seconds. Yet, I came across a rather bothersome problem the other day when I opened up MAMP and noticed a red circle for the “MySQL Server” status, which prohibited me from being able to work on the website. Fortunately, with Activity Monitor or Terminal, there are two very quick solutions to this problem.
Using Terminal
First, if MAMP is currently open, go ahead and quit it.
Open up Terminal from the Utilities folder within Applications.
In the command line, type in "sudo killall mysqld".
Type in your admin password when asked.
If you open MAMP, you should now see two green statuses.
One of the biggest annoyances when I am doing a Skype video call with a friend is when I hear a notification of a message. Luckily, there is an easy fix for this.
Open Skype and login with your username and password.
Go to Preferences under Skype menu.
In the Notifications section, go to “Message Received” under the Event drop-down menu.
Beneath, uncheck “Play sound” and the notification sound will no longer occur.
