Terminal is one handy app, I’ve got to say. There are a ton of amazing things you can do with it, as it’s essentially the back end control room of your Mac. All the Unixy underpinnings of your operating system can be accessed in here, and while it’s possible to completely hose your system with the wrong command (rm * comes to mind, for one), there are a lot of helpful things you can do with it as well.

RAM is the type of memory your Mac uses to run active applications in, as opposed to the kind of memory on your hard disc or SSD drive. The more memory you have, the faster memory-dependent apps (like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro, for example) will seem to run, and the more everyday apps you can run at once. While old-school Mac users will remember needing to close all the applications to free up memory, that’s really not as necessary as it used to be with the advanced memory handling routines in Mac OS X. However, on occasion, you might want to try the purge command in the Terminal.

Purge frees up the RAM on your Mac, telling each running app to release all the RAM it was given at launch that it is not currently using. It’s like a mini reboot without the stress.

Launch Terminal from the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. Once launched, type

purge

then hit Return on your keyboard and your Mac will force all your running apps to release the RAM they don’t need. This means you have more free RAM to run more apps, or to let heavy RAM using apps grab a bit more, running just a bit faster. You Mac may take a second or three to complete the purge task, but don’t worry – this is safe, and won’t bork your machine.

Source: LifeHack

Got an OS X tip? Need help troubleshooting OS X? Drop me a line or leave a comment below.

When Apple releases OS X Mountain Lion to the public later this month, the software will be available exclusively to the Mac App Store, just like its predecessor. However, this time around, the Mac App Store will confirm your system is capable of running the software before it allows you to purchase and download it.

Apple has been handed yet another blow in a U.K. courtroom after the High Court of England & Wales sided with Samsung today and decided that the Korean company’s Galaxy Tab series does not infringe Apple’s designs. The judge said Samsung’s products are recognizably different to Apple’s, and are therefore free to remain on sale in the U.K.

There’s no denying that the iPad is far to big to be a telephone, but there are times when it would be nice to make calls on the device. For example, I’ve previously used Skype to make a call on mine while my iPhone was being updated. But a new smartphone app called ‘TU Go’, on its way from U.K. carrier O2, will allow you to use a device connected to your iPhone — such as an iPad — to make and receive calls from your existing phone number.

As reported by Marc Gurman over at 9 to 5 Mac, Twitter’s official iPhone app is getting a big update soon.

The beta iOS 6 App Store has mistakenly loaded some app update screens for the new Twitter client, version 4.3. Twitter’s apps have been lagging farther and farther behind recently, due to changes in Twitter’s mobile API and third-party apps that include more power features than the official ones. The changes are substantive, however, in the upcoming Twitter app, as shown in the leaked release notes.

The topic of selling access to iOS beta software has come up again as of late, and with Apple’s release of the iOS 6 beta, many eager non-developers are itching to get their hands on the upcoming OS as soon as possible. For some, the desire to try iOS 6 is so great that they will buy access to developer-only software from unofficial websites Apple does not support.

Apple has turned its attention to the underbelly of selling iOS and OS X developer software, according to a new report.

Did you know the first version of WordPress was written using DreamWeaver? Yep, it’s true. Now you might not be interested in creating the next great CMS, but you might be interested in using Dreamweaver to create awesome websites. This is where Dreamweaver Essentials comes in. Over 7.5 hours and 100 hands-on lectures that will make you a DW rockstar.

More info on the Dreamweaver Essentials Course after the jump…

Apple’s new MacBook Pro features a stunning 2880×1800 Retina display that makes any other screen look like pixelated junk. Because the next-gen 2012 MacBook Pro packs so many pixels in an insane resolution on a 15-inch display, it can be difficult to find great wallpapers that are optimized correctly. Luckily, we’ve collected the best resources on the internet to help you find the most beautiful wallpapers possible.

GarageBand for OS X changed the way us mere mortals create great music on their Macs. Included with all new Macs or available in the Mac App store for $15, it gives musicians from the brand new to the seasoned veteran a way to record all kinds of music, connecting real instruments, MIDI devices, and microphones to your Mac for easy music sessions. It also does some other cool things, which we’ll tell you about right now.

Despite months of speculation, many doubted Google would ever bring its terrific Chrome browser to iOS. But the search giant has put an end to the rumors by finally releasing it, and it’s kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup. We also have a new weather app for those who like to keep it simple, arguably the best Google Analytics client for iOS, and more.

Garageband for iPad is an amazing deal – for just five bucks, you have access to a fully featured, powerful set of recording tools at your beck and call, all while on the go. There’s no need for wires, expensive sound equipment, or even instruments – GarageBand for iPad can make you sound like an expert musician, regardless of your previous experience with music or recording software. Let’s take a look at how.

It’s been rumored for many months that Apple will release a smaller ‘iPad Mini’ to compete with cheaper Android tablets and devices like the Kindle Fire.

After Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is indeed working on a smaller version of its popular iPad tablet, a fresh report from Japanese blog Macotakara reveals some more alleged details about the forthcoming device.

Rip, store, archive, share. Whether it’s music or movies — okay, maybe not the sharing part — CDs and DVDs are still part of our digital life. Sometimes you just need to archive something to DVD. Sometimes you need to make a great mix to play at a party and you want to bring a CD. While there are lots of reasons why you’d want to burn a CD or DVD on your Mac, the problem is that the tools built into your Mac are just adequate. They work, but there are differences between getting a flip phone and a smartphone. Both make calls, but the smartphone just does more.

This is where Roxio Toast comes in. We all know Roxio. We know they make great tools for burning data to media. So, do you have Roxio in your toolkit? No? Well, right now you can get it for 50% off.

The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) “evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it’s designed and manufactured.” For years, Apple has been one of the EPEAT’s key supporters, with many of the Cupertino company’s computers earning the highest ratings in the industry.

As one of the biggest proponents of green technology and environment friendly packaging, it’s a tad shocking that Apple itself is withdrawing its 39 products from the EPEAT. This means that none of the company’s products technically meet the industry’s green standard anymore. Many large companies, educational institutions, and the U.S. federal government require computers to come with an EPEAT certification, meaning a large portion of the enterprise and education sectors could be barred from purchasing Apple products now.

The #BoycottApple hashtag was trending hard on Google+ last week.

No, I’m not talking about the boycott-Apple-to-save-Chinese-workers, the boycott-Apple-because-they-discriminate-against-Iranians or even the boycott-Apple-because-they-support-gay-marriage movements.

I’m talking about the boycott-Apple-because-they’re-using-the-courts-to-compete-against-Android-devices movement.

Specifically, the call to boycott is based on anger over Apple’s successful attempt to ban both the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and the Galaxy 10.1 tablet. An appeals court temporarily lifted the ban on the phone yesterday, but upheld the tablet ban.

Here’s why the call for a boycott is misguided and futile. 

There’s only one important fact to know about Phoenix, Arizona: it’s hot as hell.

I don’t mean that figuratively, either. I mean, if there really is a mystical place with fire, brimstone, and goblin monsters with big horns, then in all likelihood it was modeled after Phoenix. Days that only hit 100°F are cause for celebration, because 115°F is probably coming right around the corner like a stampede of raging, wild bulls hopped up on Adderall.

What makes things even worse about Phoenix is that we don’t have beaches or the ocean. We don’t even have a really good waterpark. But we do have a filthy river just outside the city. So when things get hot, people start doing silly things like grabbing a bunch of inner tubes, beer, a stereo, and snacks and float down the river for hours.

While everyone else on the river is getting drunk or stoned as they throw monster-sized marshmallows at each other, my friends and I take a different tack. We grab our goggles and dive down to the bottom of the river to find all the stuff everyone loses. We find some pretty funny items, like 80s-styled boom boxes, marijuana pipes, bras, Miley Cyrus beach towels, you name it. People suck at holding on to their crap when they’re drunk. It’s a scientific fact.

I’ve been jailbreaking my iOS devices for a couple of years now, and to be perfectly honest, I’ve thought about going back to the stock version of iOS many times. Sometimes I’ll ask myself if it’s really worth jailbreaking my iPhone. iOS 5 brought a lot of features that were only available for jailbreakers previously, and iOS 6 is adding several more.

Before the jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 came out, I was considering abandoning Cydia, the jailbreak’s App Store equivalent, for good. I didn’t think I needed to jailbreak anymore.

And in most cases, you don’t really need to jailbreak ever. But since the iOS 5.1.1 jailbreak, I’ve fallen in love with my jailbroken iPhone 4S all over again. Here’s why.

Kicking off this week’s must-have games roundup is a fantastic first-person shooter from the creators of Shadowgun, in which you must take down hoards of bloodthirsty zombies before they take control of planet Earth. We also have a wonderfully unique astronaut simulator called Astronaut Spacewalk, plus lots more.

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“Finally it’s coming: Tiny Wings 2! And now it’s teaser time.”

So says the twitter account for the one-man success story of Andreas Illiger, creator and developer of one of the hottest iOS games of the past year and a half, Tiny Wings. Tiny wings hasn’t been updated since September of last year, so we can only assume that Illiger has been working on this new project, or others, since then. While the tweet mentions the number two, the video does not, referring to the new iOS title as “The New Tiny Wings.”

We’ve all been waiting with bated breath for Apple to take the mobile payment industry by storm and bring it to the mass consumer market. For years, there have been whispers that Apple is working on its own approach to reinventing mobile payments, including the possibility of a NFC-equipped iPhone. When Apple unveiled Passbook in iOS 6 last month, the company announced its first real foray into mobile payments by partnering with select companies for handling virtual goods like coupons and airline tickets.

According to a new report on The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Passbook is only a shadow of things to come. The company is “deliberately” working on its own mobile payment system, and while the rest of its competitors scramble to test the waters, Apple is sitting back and developing the right strategy.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Samsung’s latest motion for an immediate, temporary stay of Apple’s injunction against the Galaxy Nexus.

The temporary stay only covers now through the time when the Federal Circuit will decide on Samsung’s motion to stay the ban on a more permanent basis. According to Florian Mueller on FOSSPatents today, Apple has until July 12th to respond to the motion. The court will then decide on the possibility and duration of a stay for the entire length of the appeal process. This could lead to a yo-yo effect, as each side responds in their own timeline and the Court puts any stay in force, or disables it, as they did today.

Popular online streaming music service Pandora started it all. They grew out of the Music Genome Project in January of 2000 and haven’t looked back. Pandora has a web streaming option, is built into many home and car audio products, and, of course, can be found on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. While their algorithms can be hit and miss in my experience, they’re still the go-to app when Spotify, Grooveshark, or Rdio don’t quite cut it.

Today, Pandora updated its iPhone app with several new features and a nice face lift to boot.

Until now, it’s been relatively difficult to make an app for iOS without a considerable amount work learning how to write code. Mysterious Trousers, the developers of apps such as Calvetica Calendar and Dialvetica Contacts want to change all of that with a new tool they call TinkerLearn. In a nutshell, TinkerLearn helps you learn code with real example apps.

If rumor serves right, Rovio may soon be expanding their popular Angry Birds series. According to Pocket-lint, the popular mobile gaming company may introduce a new game later this year that switches the classic gameplay around.

Despite all the talk about Android, Windows, and other tablets being iPad killers and expected to steal both consumer and business market share from Apple, not one has managed to make a real dent in the iPad’s dominance – particularly in the business space.

There are, of course, plenty of factors that I could point to and say “this is why the iPad is still number one” – IT folks know how to secure and manage iPads, there’s a single form factor, there’s a great selection of apps. I could go on, but one of the biggest reasons Apple that retains the market share that it does has nothing to do with specs, brand loyalty, app choices, or integration with existing enterprise systems.

As this absurd  and rather sleazy ad for a Toshiba Windows tablet makes obvious, virtually all Android, BlackBerry, and Windows device commercials don’t tell me anything about what a device can actually do for me.