Mac OS X Tip: Use a solid color background of any color
I've been annoyed by the inability to easily set a solid color background since I started using OS X. Apple ships a couple "Solid background" png files, but they're without fail Not the colors I want.
Turns out, there's a nice, easy way to get a solid color background of your choice that doesn't involve making a new image for each color you want. OS X supports transparency in PNGs used as wallpaper, showing the desktop color through the transparent parts. If you use a small transparent PNG and set it to "Center", you'll get a solid color desktop, and you can change the color using the color picker next to the "Center" pull-down.
I've conveniently attached a 128x128 totally transparent png file below:
Right-click above me!
Save this file to your "Pictures" folder, open up System Preferences, pick Desktop & Screensaver, select the blank picture, and choose "Center" from the orientation pulldown menu. A color selection will appear to the left - click it, and select the color you want your desktop to be.
Simple, but this has been periodically bugging the hell out of me for about a decade now.
Note: This is based on a tip on MacOSXHints, found here:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021002055217828
Quick script: Easy passwordless SSH setup
This is a quick one - I work almost entirely on remote servers via SSH & SFTP at this point, so passwordless SSH is a huge timesaver. The setup is easy, but it's a few steps and I always forget how to do it. I threw together this bash script to make it easier - to use it, run:
./passless.sh (username) (server)
The Code:
#! /usr/bin/env bash MINPARAMS=2 if [ $# -lt "$MINPARAMS" ] then echo echo "This script needs at least $MINPARAMS command-line arguments!" exit 2 fi USER=$1 SERVER=$2 echo "---" echo "Step 1: Generating RSA Key - Accept the default location & don't enter a password." echo "---" if [ -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa ] then echo "RSA Key already exists." else ssh-keygen -t rsa fi echo "---" echo "Step 2: Creating the .ssh directory on the remote server." echo "---" ssh ${USER}@${SERVER} mkdir -p .ssh echo "---" echo "Step 3: Copying the ssh key to the remote server." echo "---" cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh ${USER}@${SERVER} 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys' echo "---" echo "Done! You should be able to log in now." echo "---"