a few newbie questions from a switcher

GleepGlop · 01-28-2007, 03:53 PM

Hi, MBP C2D 10.4.
I apologize if any of these questions have already been adressed but since I'm very new to OS X I have trouble making use of responses that weren't written for newbies. I'm generally competent in the PC world but these are the questions I have yet to find answers to.

1. is there a way to access an audio equalizer for the O/S? There's one for itunes but I was looking for one for the entire system so I could turn down the bass.

2. I got flip4mac but since it runs through quicktime i cant make videos i stream from webpages fullscreen unless I buy pro. Call me cheap but I dont think I should have to pay money just to get a fullscreen web video. Is there another program I can use?

3. some programs I assume dont install everything in the same folder, yet there is no 'uninstall'. Is there any solution to this problem?

4. I understand viruses and trojans etc. are very rare but I'm not sure exactly how rare. Can I just turn on the firewall and hit the seedy underbelly of the internet and laugh while all of the attacks designed for PC's bounce off of me or is there cross-platform badware out there which makes the seedy underbelly of the internet still dangerous for a mac user?

Thanks!

hayne · 01-28-2007, 04:17 PM

I'll just address the last question. (By the way, it's usually best to ask one question per thread unless they are related. That way you can give your post a title that summarizes the question.)

Viruses for OS X are essentially non-existent. The situation may change but at the moment I don't recommend running an anti-virus program since so far these programs seem to cause more trouble than they are worth. The risk is essentially zero.

I would always be slightly leery of the "seedy underbelly of the Internet". There have been some proofs of concept attacks recently that might provide a way to interfere with your Mac if you clicked on the wrong link. This is unlikely but something to keep in mind.
It is always important to keep up to date with Apple's Software Update (which normally runs automatically at least once a week). One of the vulnerabilities of the type I mentioned was fixed last week in a security update from Apple.

And of course it is always a bad idea to run any software from an untrustworthy source. This goes double if the installer for that software asks for your password - any software that asks for your password is intending on making changes to the "system" area of the disk.

ThreeDee · 01-28-2007, 04:31 PM

For #3, you can usually just 'trash' the program in the bottom right of the screen. (Trash [Mac]= Recycle Bin [Windows])

There may be a file or two in "~/Library/Preferences/" (where ~ is the name of your home folder) named something like "com.apple.mail.plist" or "com.bigpixel.wancheck.plist" or other plist files. These files usually store the settings for the program, and are usually very small. You can delete these if you want. this works best with simple programs

Some slightly complex programs may create files in "~/Library/Application Support/". The Firefox browser creates a folder named "Firefox" in this folder to store it's settings.

Even more complex programs usually come with an uninstaller. You should run these instead of trying to manually delete whatever files the program installed. A good example of this is "Unsanity's APE".

If you are wondering abut uninstallers on Windows, many of them actually do leave traces of the program around.

GleepGlop · 01-28-2007, 04:53 PM

ah thanks, the responses so far have put to rest my concerns for 3 and 4,

as for 1 and 2: i wondered if there was some kind of 'tinkertool' that would allow me to tweak the equalization, but it isn't a huge deal and i would think that future os x releases may add this feature as it seems like a no-brainer.

as for 2, the streaming video was a .wmv and i know there are a whole bunch of 3rd party media players like VLC which i have, but I guess maybe ones that handle embedded video (ie. .rm, .mov, .wmv) are more proprietary?

trevor · 01-28-2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GleepGlop


	1. is there a way to access an audio equalizer for the O/S? There's one for itunes but I was looking for one for the entire system so I could turn down the bass.

Exactly what speakers/amplifier are you using that need the bass to be turned down?

Trevor

jonathanjong · 02-11-2007, 11:23 PM

divX web player? actually...i'm not sure if that's free

01-28-2007, 03:53 PM	#1
GleepGlop Prospect Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4	a few newbie questions from a switcher Hi, MBP C2D 10.4. I apologize if any of these questions have already been adressed but since I'm very new to OS X I have trouble making use of responses that weren't written for newbies. I'm generally competent in the PC world but these are the questions I have yet to find answers to. 1. is there a way to access an audio equalizer for the O/S? There's one for itunes but I was looking for one for the entire system so I could turn down the bass. 2. I got flip4mac but since it runs through quicktime i cant make videos i stream from webpages fullscreen unless I buy pro. Call me cheap but I dont think I should have to pay money just to get a fullscreen web video. Is there another program I can use? 3. some programs I assume dont install everything in the same folder, yet there is no 'uninstall'. Is there any solution to this problem? 4. I understand viruses and trojans etc. are very rare but I'm not sure exactly how rare. Can I just turn on the firewall and hit the seedy underbelly of the internet and laugh while all of the attacks designed for PC's bounce off of me or is there cross-platform badware out there which makes the seedy underbelly of the internet still dangerous for a mac user? Thanks!

01-28-2007, 04:17 PM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,938	I'll just address the last question. (By the way, it's usually best to ask one question per thread unless they are related. That way you can give your post a title that summarizes the question.) Viruses for OS X are essentially non-existent. The situation may change but at the moment I don't recommend running an anti-virus program since so far these programs seem to cause more trouble than they are worth. The risk is essentially zero. I would always be slightly leery of the "seedy underbelly of the Internet". There have been some proofs of concept attacks recently that might provide a way to interfere with your Mac if you clicked on the wrong link. This is unlikely but something to keep in mind. It is always important to keep up to date with Apple's Software Update (which normally runs automatically at least once a week). One of the vulnerabilities of the type I mentioned was fixed last week in a security update from Apple. And of course it is always a bad idea to run any software from an untrustworthy source. This goes double if the installer for that software asks for your password - any software that asks for your password is intending on making changes to the "system" area of the disk. __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

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01-28-2007, 04:31 PM	#3
ThreeDee Hall of Famer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: USA Posts: 3,418	For #3, you can usually just 'trash' the program in the bottom right of the screen. (Trash [Mac]= Recycle Bin [Windows]) There may be a file or two in "~/Library/Preferences/" (where ~ is the name of your home folder) named something like "com.apple.mail.plist" or "com.bigpixel.wancheck.plist" or other plist files. These files usually store the settings for the program, and are usually very small. You can delete these if you want. this works best with simple programs Some slightly complex programs may create files in "~/Library/Application Support/". The Firefox browser creates a folder named "Firefox" in this folder to store it's settings. Even more complex programs usually come with an uninstaller. You should run these instead of trying to manually delete whatever files the program installed. A good example of this is "Unsanity's APE". If you are wondering abut uninstallers on Windows, many of them actually do leave traces of the program around. __________________ 15" MacBook Pro (Mid 2010), 2.4 GHz Core i5, 10.6.5, 4GB RAM PowerMac G4 "Quicksilver", 733 MHz, 10.4.11, 1.5GB RAM iPod Touch 5G, 32GB, iOS 6.1.3

01-28-2007, 04:53 PM	#4
GleepGlop Prospect Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4	ah thanks, the responses so far have put to rest my concerns for 3 and 4, as for 1 and 2: i wondered if there was some kind of 'tinkertool' that would allow me to tweak the equalization, but it isn't a huge deal and i would think that future os x releases may add this feature as it seems like a no-brainer. as for 2, the streaming video was a .wmv and i know there are a whole bunch of 3rd party media players like VLC which i have, but I guess maybe ones that handle embedded video (ie. .rm, .mov, .wmv) are more proprietary?

02-11-2007, 11:23 PM	#6
jonathanjong Triple-A Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 89	divX web player? actually...i'm not sure if that's free