Randy Walker

Jim Whimpey brought up a complaint about flags in OS X Mail:

Why does Mail have these much too subtle flags instead of full colour labels like the rest of the OS!?

Jim Whimpey via Twitter

I figured I'd tackle the problem because I imagine other users have the same issue. I've made some OS X services to assign flags with matching message backgrounds. These services just contain a few lines of AppleScript that change the flag and the background color of the selected messages. If you want to take a look, you can open them in Automator. Here's how you use it.

1. Quit Mail if it's running.
2. Download Full Color Flags

3. Extract the contents to ~/Library/Services/

   

4. Optional: Assign keyboard shortcuts to the Services.

   

To use these, open Mail, select a message or messages, then go to Mail > Services and choose your desired flag.

And this is the result:

This solution works for me. There is no guarantee that it will work for you. I am not liable if it does not work for you or if it damages your computer or data. Proceed at your own risk! You may use this solution free of charge for any purpose.

If you're running Boot Camp, it can be a pain to restart your Mac running Windows: you either have to go to Startup Disk preference pane and change your startup disk or you have to remember to hold down the "option" key when you start up your computer and then click on your Windows disk to start from it.

From the Windows side, it's easy: Apple provides a Boot Camp app that runs in the task bar. All you have to do is right-click it and choose "Restart in OS X" and you're good to go. Why can't it be that easy under OS X?

With the AppleScript I came up with, it is!

Be advised that I am not an AppleScript expert. I pieced this together from code snippets I found on the Internet and changed to meet my needs. It works for me. There is no guarantee that it will work for you. I am not liable if it does not work for you or if it damages your computer or data. Proceed at your own risk! You may use this code free of charge for any purpose.

set adminpass to "YOURPASSWORDHERE"
 
tell application "Finder"
	set iconPath to (get name of startup disk) & ":Applications:Utilities:Boot Camp Assistant.app:Contents:Resources:DA.icns" as alias
end tell
 
set askRestart to display dialog "Restart in Windows?" buttons {"Cancel", "Restart"} default button 1 with icon iconPath
set doRestart to button returned of askRestart
 
if doRestart is equal to "Cancel" then
	quit
end if
 
if doRestart is equal to "Restart" then
	do shell script "bless -mount /Volumes/BOOTCAMP/ -legacy -setBoot -nextonly; shutdown -r now" password adminpass with administrator privileges
end if

Open This Code in AppleScript Editor and change the text YOURPASSWORDHERE to your administrator password. If you've changed the name of your Boot Camp volume, you'll need to change BOOTCAMP on line 15 to the name of your Boot Camp Volume.

Once you've done this, just save as an Application to somewhere convenient then drag it to your Dock. When you click on it, you'll get this:

Click the "Restart" button to restart your Mac running Windows or click the "Cancel" button to quit this app.

I was reading this post about a Twitter/identi.ca client and it got me thinking about what I want in a Twitter/Identi.ca client. I want some of the things he wants, such as:

• I want to use a single client to manage all my tweeting and denting without having to login and out.
• I want to be able to tweet/dent in one place and have it show up in both by default
• … but be able to direct it to just one location if appropriate, on a tweet-by-tweet basis.

But I want the following as well:

• OS X-native app with a standard UI. Please use as few custom widgets as possible.
• Don't show in the Dock. I want a menu icon.
• Posts from both services mixed in the same list. Some people post to both, I'd like duplicate detection so that I don't see two of the same message (once from each service).
• I want replies to go only to the service the post came from (but to both services if the post was on both)

If iTunes 9 blinded you with its white background in Grid view, then you'll love iTunes 9.0.2. Apple has added the ability to switch to a dark Grid view. Here's how to enable it.

Go to the iTunes menu and choose the "Preferences..." command (Edit>Preferences... in Windows). Look for the "Grid View" option about two-thirds of the way down the Preferences window (It's on the right-hand side). Change it from "Light" to "Dark" and then press the "OK" button to save these preferences.

A while ago, I released my first Habari theme. It's the same theme that this site is currently running. I've given the theme a better, more prominent home here on my Theme Page. Enjoy!