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Publication Date: November 22, 2011 | Series: Pragmatic Programmers
Exploit secret settings and hidden apps, push built-in tools to the limit, radically personalize your Mac experience and tweak your system so it's just right for you. Every one of these 300 quick and easy tips, tricks, hints and hacks in Mac Kung Fu makes "it just works" even better. Become the ultimate Mac user, working faster, smarter, and simply have lots more fun with your Apple computer.
After you've uncovered the basics in Lion, Mac Kung Fu is your next step. You'll learn how to master everyday tools such as the Dock, Spotlight, Mission Control, Launchpad, and Dashboard. You'll discover other amazingly useful tools and built-in add-ons that you never knew existed. You'll customize the OS X interface, refine your workflow, learn valuable security tricks, work better with photos, movies and documents, and test your Mac hardware. You'll wow friends with your insanely great Mac knowledge!
Mac Kung Fu details things even Mac Geniuses don't know. And why should they? Many of the tips in this book exploit settings or experimental features never officially made public.
Each tip in this unique book is deliberately short and readable, and you can dip in and out whenever you want. Most take less than a minute to complete, yet the results last for a lifetime of better computing.
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Keir Thomas is an award-winning author with over ten computing books to his name. A former computer magazine editor, his work has been published and translated around the world, and he has blogged professionally for the MacWorld and PCWorld websites. He previously wrote the best-selling Ubuntu Kung Fu for Pragmatic Bookshelf.
Keir Thomas is a 100% unofficial Mac and Linux "genius" who writes the kind of books ordinary users value and need. His most recent title is Mac Kung Fu, a collection of over 300 tips, tricks, hints and hacks for the all-new Apple Mac OS X Lion operating system.
The author of more than 10 best-selling computer books, his work has been read by well over 1,000,000 people and translated into many different languages. In addition to Macs, Thomas has also written extensively about Ubuntu Linux, with one of his books winning a Linux Journal award, and he has recently created several $0.99 Kindle ebooks that consistently top the Amazon charts.
In addition to writing computer books, Thomas runs a small poetry publishing press called Puppywolf. He lives in Britain with two cats and counts walking amongst his hobbies.
More more details, see http://keirthomas.com.
Reader reviews of MAC KUNG FU:
"Simply amazing. This is a fantastic book. I've been using Macs since the System 6 days, and I learned several new things reading through and trying these tips. Even very advanced users are going to find something here they didn't know." -- Patrick Burleson, Owner BitBQ, LLC
"I love how accessible this book is. No fluff, no filler, and no extraneous content to weed through. Just lots of interesting things that I could put into practice immediately." -- Angela Murtha, IOS Consultant, Girl Meets Bit, LLC
"If Mac customizations are an orange, this book must have squeezed out every last drop of juice there is. I would be surprised if there were more that could be done that this book does not cover." -- Jon Kurz, President, Dycet, LLC
"This book is easy to read and should be a staple for anyone using a Mac. The tips and tricks are invaluable. There are tips for every user type, from the beginner to advanced users. I would recommend this book to everyone, from my mom to my fellow coworkers." -- Wesley Matlock, Mobile Team Developer Lead, O.co (also known as overstock.com)
Mac Kung Fu jumps right into unknown tips and tricks utilizing the very helpful but mostly overlooked Terminal app. The variety of scripts suggested to run in Terminal will have you feeling like a hacker in no time as you change many of the settings on your Mac.
Various keyboard shortcuts including the shortcuts for common symbols and characters will noticeably speed up your everyday monotonous tasks.
Terminal hacks and keyboard shortcuts not enough for you? Automator is also introduced, and I find the batch process of renaming a series of photos particularly helpful. Also general preference changes are scattered throughout this book, with some of my favorites on using the Spotlight search feature.
This is a clever book with lots of great tips, tricks, hints, and hacks!
I was blown away by this book. Just awesome. I've been using a Mac since 2008 but I learned all kinds of new things. There's also loads of secret commands that let you totally personalise your Mac. The author does an excellent job of explaining everything in really simple language too. Highly recommended. I don't think there's any other book like this out there.
This book is really good to view several hundred Mac tips that really work. Of the 300 and something tips, I found a little less than half appeal to me, only because they aren't my interest right now, not because the tips aren't any good.I think it's a good little book to have in your library for Macs. It's not something you will be pulling out every day, not will you constantly be leaving the book in the corner. I'd suggest my method. Go though the entire book and highlight the tips you find useful and implement them. If you are pretty technical, you could probably expand these tips for even more personalization
