zdima.net » Command Line

Open Hidden Menu Options with the Shift and Right-Click Shortcut [Shortcut Of The Day]

Melanie Pinola — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Right-clicking on a file or folder brings up a context-sensitive menu, but sometimes that menu doesn’t show all your options. Hold down the Shift key when you right-click to find hidden but useful commands like copying a file path or expanding the Send To options. More »

Prompt Is an Elegant and Feature-Rich SSH Client for Your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch [Downloads]

Adam Dachis — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:00:00 +0000

iOS: Prompt is an excellent SSH client for iOS, providing you with an elegant interface and several great features (like SSH-specific autocomplete) so using the command line on your iDevice is actually a pleasant experience. More »

Download the Entire Archive of Nasa’s Astronomy Picture of the Day with One Command [Command Line Hacks]

Adam Pash — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Nasa’s Astronomy Picture of the Day archive is a packed with awe-inspiring, high-resolution images of space that, incidentally, work great as desktop wallpapers. But NASA doesn’t offer an easy way to grab everything. Command-line tool wget to the rescue! More »

How to Open Two Instances of an Application in OS X [Mac Tip]

Whitson Gordon — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Whether you want to look at two PDF pages side-by-side or you want two Twitter accounts open at once, sometimes OS X requires a separate instance of an application to be open. Here’s how to do it with a simple Terminal command. More »

How to Find Hidden Features in Mac Applications [Mac Tip]

Rob Johnson — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Secret Terminal commands in OS X (like the one that enables FaceTime’s autoaccept feature) are great, but they generally stay hidden until someone publishes them on the web. Here’s how to find an application’s hidden features yourself. More »

Create a Shortcut that Quits Every Running Windows Program [Shortcuts]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:30:00 +0000

We’ve featured programs that close down non-essential Windows apps before, as well as ways to kill those regularly problematic apps. If you’d rather not install extra software, though, here’s a way to create your own desktop shortcut to kill all running apps. More »

Change Directories and View Files in One Custom Command [Terminal Tips]

the-soup — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:15:00 +0000

We occasionally enjoy geeking out at the command line, so we love timesaving Terminal shortcuts. Reader the-soup suggests a simple tweak that combines two common commands into one: cd and ls, switching to a directory and listing its contents in one line. More »

How to Hide the Ping Drop-Down in iTunes [Annoyances]

Kevin Purdy — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:30:00 +0000

iTunes 10 allows you to hide your Ping sidebar, but not the drop-down menu for its “social network for music” that shows up next to every song you click. Here’s how to kill that Ping button on Windows and Macs. More »

Enable “High Contrast Mode” in iTunes 10 [ITunes Tip]

Adam Dachis — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:30:00 +0000

If iTunes 10 is a little too gray and washed out for your eyes, a simple terminal command can up the contrast (maybe a little too much). More »

Play Music in the Terminal with a Bash Script [Bash Scripts]

Whitson Gordon — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:30:00 +0000

Whether you do a lot of work in the Terminal or you just don’t feel like opening iTunes and searching through your library, reader CamJN‘s fplay script will get you listening to music in seconds. More »