Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Force Empty Trash Through Terminal

    Last week I took a support call from a woman having trouble emptying the trash on her Mac. She kept getting an error message saying that the item could not be deleted. Often the cause of this is an application or process that is still running and using that file. Other times it is because of permission problems. In both cases, where restarting the machine doesn’t help, I’ve found that securely emptying the trash will solve it. In her case, it didn’t work.

    The solution was found in Terminal, the Mac command line utility. For the majority of Mac users you’ll never use this app–it will sit in your Utilities folder gathering digital dust. In truth, this is a good thing, as reckless use of Terminal can lead to some pretty serious consequences for your operating system. Though if you have the basics down, you can do a fair amount with your machine by bypassing the graphic interface that we all know and love. To delete your trash through Terminal, enter or copy and paste the following command line exactly:

    sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

    To delete another user’s trash (user_name is the user’s short name) enter or copy and paste:

    sudo rm -rf /Users/user_name/.Trash/*

    Once entered, you’ll be asked for your administrator password and your trash will empty. If you have a large amount of files in there, it may take a bit. This command only works for trash contained on the root drive; any external or secondary volume connected would have a different path. In that case, the command line would be:

    sudo rm -rf /Volumes/DriveName/.Trash/*

    These commands will work for OS 10.5 and 10.6; I’m unsure of whether or not they will work with anything older than 10.5. It’s also entirely possible that upon the release of Lion, this solution will no longer work. Apple has changed some of the commands used in Terminal between 10.5 and 10.6, and could continue to change commands as the OS evolves. I have found that periodically the Trash icon on your dock will still look like it’s full even though the formerly stuck files are gone. Just right click and empty trash, and it will now look empty. Use this information at your own risk!

  • Happy Tuesday,

    This week it’s Ben writing for Matt while he’s in California–a state fresh on my mind as I was there myself just 48 hours ago. Though I’m a Vermont-bred snow maniac, Nor’easters in March seriously cramp my style. One could say I picked the perfect week to travel as I just barely dodged the New England snow en route to the California sun. The big Apple news last week was of course the launch of iPad 2. Given the incredible success of its predecessor, I can’t say I was surprised to hear of lines wrapping around stores nationwide leading up to its launch. I missed a potential spot in line at the Beverly Hills Apple Store by sleeping in, so I decided to cut my losses. Instead of standing in line all day, I drove out to the desert to visit Joshua Tree.

    All of the excitement surrounding iPad 2 was met with shock and sorrow as news broke of the devastating earthquake and accompanying tsunami hitting Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on Friday. As reports and terrifying video footage of the disaster spread, the hearts and thoughts of American citizens went out to Japan. In the days following the disaster, several organizations have started accepting donations to assist those affected. In a similar fashion to the company’s response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Apple has dedicated a portion of its iTunes Music Store to American Red Cross donations. If you’d like to help the earthquake and tsunami victims, please donate “*here.*”:https://buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/buyCharityGiftWizard

    Thanks for reading this issue of Tech Tails.

    Ben
    “benb@smalldog.com”:mailto:benb@smalldog.com

  • MAC TREAT #149: Retro Mac Alert Sounds

    Do you ever find yourself yearning for the “Moofs” and “Wild Eeps” of bygone days? If you’re new to Macs, you likely have…

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2259.jpg!:http://www.smalldog.com/wag20579/at_dr

    *$60 off Samsung 24″ LCD Display* Regularly $389.99, now $329.99–just click above to see details!

    Because we want to give you the best deals AND stay in business, Deal Retriever deals are valid for one week only. Quantities are limited; offers good while supplies last.

  • A Fashionable New iPad Trend to Watch

    I’m no fashionista, but I do follow the popular street-style blog The Sartorialist. Scott Schuman’s photographs capture fascinating instances of personal style from…

  • I am taking a quick trip to Cupertino this weekend for a meeting on Monday and then a red-eye back to Vermont. I can’t wait to get my hands on the iPad 2 and hope we will have enough so I can start playing with one when I get back. I will be taking it to China with me when I go in April so I can test the fit of accessories when I attend the trade shows.

    Thank you so much for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes! We want you to understand that you are our most valuable asset – loyal and friendly customers, customers we intend to make for life!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Ben, Mike, Stephanie & Morgan_

  • A Fashionable New iPad Trend to Watch

    I’m no fashionista, but I do follow the popular street-style blog The Sartorialist. Scott Schuman’s photographs capture fascinating instances of personal style from…

  • Playing a $910 Game of Scrabble

    A few days ago, a good friend and I partook in the most expensive game of Scrabble I’d ever played. While no wagers were involved, a whole lot of iOS devices were. Using the “*Scrabble HD*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fscrabble-for-ipad%2Fid363306776%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30 app on iPad as a hub, the two of us connected our iPhones to it over Wi-Fi and used them as Tile Racks. The end result was surprisingly seamless and a blast to play.

    One could argue that this method removes the fun from a timeless game as it involves yet another way for us to spend time staring at screens, but I’d argue the opposite. This type of argument would be like saying reading on the iPad isn’t really reading as it uses an LCD instead of paper. I see this version of Scrabble as the logical evolution of the game–and board games in general for that matter. No longer is a trip to the basement required to grab a dusty old box off a shelf. Now a game of Scrabble or “*Monopoly*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fmonopoly-for-ipad%2Fid405622181%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30 can be played with the same level of immersion and interactivity with devices one carries on their person. Even better, the majority of these games support local bluetooth in addition to Wi-Fi to interact with devices. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. For instance, when’s the last time you were able to play a full game of Scrabble with the family while on a road trip? Unless your “*Wagon Queen Family Truckster*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_Queen_Family_Truckster is a “*Rolls Phantom*”:http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/phantom/, those tiny tiles will be bouncing around everywhere! EA’s execution of these classic titles on iOS has, for the most part, been flawless. The only problem was my own lack of vocabulary. Remember, the on-board dictionary is cheating folks!

    Scrabble HD is available in the App Store for $9.99 “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fscrabble-for-ipad%2Fid363306776%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30

    The free Scrabble Tile Rack app for iPhone is available “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fscrabble-tile-rack%2Fid363327037%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30

  • MAC TREAT #149: Retro Mac Alert Sounds

    Do you ever find yourself yearning for the “Moofs” and “Wild Eeps” of bygone days? If you’re new to Macs, you likely have no idea what I’m talking about, however legacy users will know exactly what I mean. Earlier versions of Mac OS contained alert sounds that have gone on to become as iconic as the machines they played on. Among these, several have achieved cult-like statuses. There’s Clarus the Dogcow, (pictured) and the lengthy legal backstory behind “*Sosumi.*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosumi Of course, there are less memorable sounds as well– “Laugh” and “Logjam” for instance.

    Nearly every long term Mac user has an alert sound they’ve identified with over the years. Unfortunately with successive OS releases, Apple periodically removed many sounds–replacing them with ones arguably more sterile or grown-up. Thankfully, compilations of original system sounds still exist and are easy to implement on your modern Mac. A full collection of sounds is available “*here.*”:http://uneasy.me/uz After downloading, make a trip to your Home Folder, and Library. We advise backing up prior to this step as the Library contains many important system files. Once you’ve backed up, navigate to the Sounds folder and copy over the .aiff files contained in the download folder. To select a retro alert sound, simply open System Preferences and select Sound. Under the Sound Effects tab you should see all the newly added retro alerts. Your MacBook Air will be “Quacking” in no time!